Survival
by Poca
Summary: "I'm sorry…" Star whispered as she looked at the chaos around her. The dead Time Lord bodies around her and the Daleks that had their top blown off. "I'm so sorry…" 9xOC slight crush. Part 1 of the series 'Neutron Star Collision'.
1. Lady Star

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_**Gallifreyan**_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

Gallifrey… also called the Shining World of the Seven Systems, located in the constellation of Kasterborous, at galactic co-ordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre.

It is in a binary star system. The second star seemed to rise in the south in the morning, making the mountains glow. The main star was large and a beautiful golden red. Our system contained five other planets, among them Karn, Polarfrey, and an asteroid named Kasterborous the Fibster.

Gallifrey has at least two large moons and a ring system, similar to Saturn in Earth's solar system. One of the moons is the copper-colored Pazithi Gallifreya, which shone so brightly it could be seen during the day.

From orbit, Gallifrey was rust-colored, with brown lakes and grey clouds. From the planet's surface, it boasted an orange sky, snow-capped mountains and trees with silver leaves. These reflected the morning sunlight, making it look like the forests were on fire. There were also green forests, golden fields and red deserts.

A Time Lady was currently spending time with her two grown children around the Citadel when everyone around started to panic. She pulled her children closer to her as they looked around confused and worried.

"Lady Star!" She spun around to the voice quickly, making her long hair slap her face. It was one of her private guards. "We need to get you out of here! Hurry!"

They followed the guard. "What's going on?" The Time Lady's daughter asked as she tried to keep up with the guard and her family.

"War." was the only word he said as ran, but that word sent chills down her spine and make her hearts beat rapidly. They stopped by a war TARDIS. "You need to get in, there's not much room."

"My children go first, I'll wait for another." The guard went to fight back but Star stopped him. "My children are more important to me than myself, please."

The guard nodded and said no more.

She turned to her children. "You need to go into the TARDIS. I will be on the next one. Ansel," She whisper to her son, not wanting the guard or her daughter to know his name. "Take care of your sister until we meet again." Ansel nodded and hid the tears in his golden brown eyes, the same eyes she has.

She turned to her daughter, whispering to her. "Aurelia, listen to your brother, okay?" her black hair bounced as she nodded to her mother and started to rub at her golden eyes.

Star looked her children over, memorizing them.

Ansel, he had her smooth cocoa skin tone and golden hazel eyes, and his father's dark straight hair.

Aurelia, she had Star's bouncy black curls, cocoa skin with freckles like her father did across her cheeks and nose, and her same eyes. She was practically the copy of her mother with some small additions of her father.

They were twins, but acted like they were years apart.

"Lady Star, I'm sorry but they need to leave now." whispered the guard as he noticed the chaos of people trying to get out by using the remaining TARDISes.

Star nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Go on, and behave!"

They waved goodbye as they walked into the TARDIS.

"The other TARDIS is here, but we must hurry, we haven't much time."

"What of my husband?"

The guard's eyes went sad. "I'm sorry, but he was killed when the Daleks first attacked."

"Oh…" She cleared her throat. Even though she did not love her husband, that didn't mean she felt bad that he had died. "We must hurry, lead the way." She picked up the front of her red robes and followed the guard to another TARDIS ship a couple feet away.

"Here it is. Get inside!" the guard let her go through first before closing the doors behind him.

She looked around, remembering the last time she was in a TARDIS, which was before her life turned upside down…

"Ma'am!" a small woman with long brown hair picked up high, brown eyes, and a small nose called out to her. "We need help piloting, one of our pilots is injured."

Star rushed over to the controls, pulling the right controls to help the other 5 pilots drive the TARDIS.

There was a loud boom, making the TARDIS shake and part of the controls explode, killing most of the pilots with the shrapnel. They didn't have time to regenerate.

"What was that?!" Star screamed at the only surviving pilot as she tried to help, the small woman from before.

Screaming was heard from farther into the TARDIS. Suddenly the door that separated them from the screaming was blasted open.

Star ducked behind the console, covering her head from the debris.

Just then, a familiar auto-toned voice called out, causing her shivers. "Where is The **Star**?!"

The female pilot looked at Star from the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

"How did you get on board?!" she yelled at them. "And why do you need The Star?!"

"Someone helped us on board." It answered.

"Who?" she asked as she looked at the fallen pilots.

"I did." Star looked around the console and saw it was the guard that escorted her into the TARDIS and away from her children.

Star went to stand up and confront them when the woman put her hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Why did you bring them in here?!" yelled the pilot holding her down.

The guard gave the pilot a teary eyed gaze. "To save my family."

"Your family will not be saved, all must die." The Daleks told him.

"What?! But you said-" he was cut off by a laser sound and he fell to the floor, dead.

"Now, you will bring the Star to us." It demanded to the pilot.

"Why? Why do you need her?" said the pilot.

"Because we will use her knowledge and power to become more supreme!" its voice grew during each word.

"SUPREME!" the other Daleks repeated in a louder tone.

Star patted the woman's hand, telling her to let her go. She stood up and walked around the console, glaring at the 3 Daleks watching her every move with their telescope-like eyestalks.

Star reached into her pocket without the Daleks noticing, getting a small device that will destroy them from the inside... or blow them all up. She had not tested it out yet. "Here I am, but I will go with you if you spare her." Star motioned to the female next to her.

The Daleks just looked at her for a long while, and then turned their heads to each other. They talked then turned back to the Time Ladies.

"No." was all that the leader said before shooting at Star.

The pilot quickly pushed her to the side, getting hit with the laser. "No!" Star screamed as the pilot fell. She took out the device from her pocket and pressed the button to the device, shocking the Daleks from the inside and shortening them out.

She ran over to the woman and went to check if she was still alive.

"Miss? Miss, are you alive?"

The pilot slowly opened her brown eyes and Star could see how much pain she was in. "It grazed me, but I'm dying too fast to regenerate." She spit out blood, some getting in her long brown hair. "You have to hide Star, before they find you." She pointed to the console. "Use… the… Chameleon circuit." She gasped and Star could feel the woman's hearts slowing down quickly. "Hide… Run." she went limp in her arms as Star cried.

"I'm so sorry…" She closed her eyes and laid the pilot down on the floor.

She quickly ran to the console and brought out the chameleon circuit. She quickly typed in the species she was to turn into, and typed in the coordinates of the closest planet she was to be transported in to hide, Earth, her favorite planet since she was a child back at the Academy.

As the chameleon circuit was powering up, Star used the remaining pieces of the console to hack into the program so she won't have to use a pocket watch, since most of the console is nearly destroyed and it wouldn't dispense a fob watch. Instead, she programed it to take her necklace.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the chair and placed the necklace into the slot, sat in the chair, and waited for the ding that signaled the start of re-writing her biology.

"I'm sorry…" Star whispered as she looked at the chaos around her. The dead Time Lord bodies around her and the Daleks that had their top blown off. "I'm so sorry…"

**Ding**

She screamed at the top of her lungs as the machine started to do its work and pull her time-lord essence and power into the necklace.

Her screams lasted for a while before sparks started to come from the helmet and from the destroyed console.

Golden white swirls started to come from Star as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She vanished with the necklace before the TARDIS exploded.

* * *

**Hope you like the first chapter!**

**I know this one is short but I'm making the others longer.**


	2. Years Later

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_**Gallifreyan**_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

A blonde couple were walking through the streets after having a lovely date, when they heard a cry coming from the alley way.

"Pete," the blonde woman turned to the man as they stopped walking in front of the alley way. "That… that sounds like a baby."

"Aye, it does." He removed the woman's hands from his arm. "Stay here love, I'll go check to see if everything is all right."

The woman nodded and watched as Pete carefully walked into the alley way, hoping it wasn't a trap and that her fiancé wouldn't get mugged and killed.

Pete walked closer to the soft crying and saw a red bundle moving and cries coming from it. He looked around, to see if anyone was around before picking up the bundle carefully.

He held it in one arm as he used his other hand to remove the fabric away from the baby's face. The baby stopped crying once its face was un-covered, but let out little whimpers.

The baby had wisps of blonde on its head, peachy skin with red cheeks from crying and the cold, some moles on its left cheek, full thick lips that looked odd on the small baby but he was sure the babe would grow into them, and sage green eyes.

"Awe, look at you." He cooed as he rocked the baby softly, making it less fussy as he held it close to his body for warmth. "You poor thing, out here in the cold." He looked around the dark alley again, looking to see if anyone was still around, possibly this baby's mother back for the baby.

He noticed that it had a chain around its neck and the end of it in in her small plump hand. He reached for it and saw it was a silver necklace with odd circular symbols carved into it. "Maybe this was your mum's."

"Pete!" the voice of his fiancé called out to him from where he left her. "Are you alright?"

"Come on, I'll take you to meet the soon to be Mrs. I warn you," he started to walk back. "She's a bit loud."

"Pete is that you?" his fiancé yelled as he walked to her.

"Yeah, it's me." He came out of the alleyway and smiled at how worried his fiancé had been.

She noticed the red bundle in his arms. "What is that?"

He showed her the baby in his arms. "It's just a babe. Poor thing was just left there, alone by the rubbish bins."

He could see her eyes melt as she looked over the baby in my arms. "Oh the poor thing." She looked over at Pete. "Should we take it to the police?"

"Sure, maybe they can find a place to put the small thing." The baby in his arms started to fuss so he started to rock it, calming it.

Pete's fiancé watched him rock the baby like a natural. "Why… why don't we keep it?" the words slipped from her mouth, but she couldn't get over Pete holding the baby in his arms like that.

"What?!" Pete looked at her like she had gone bonkers.

His fiancé held up her hand. "Just listen. You know we both want kids, so…" she pointed to the baby. "Why don't we adopt it? Give it a better life with us than some unknown people to take care of it?"

Pete just looked at her blankly. "We're unknown to it, how is that any different?"

"Well, look how the baby is with you already." Pete looked down at the baby that was fast asleep in his arms and holding the end of his scarf. "It already looks perfect in your arms." She lightly touched the baby's warm cheek. "Please?" she gave Pete a puppy dog look. "We can love it and give it a good home."

Pete sighed. "Fine, but we still need to go to the police, just in case." His fiancé smiled and nodded.

She took the baby from his arms and held her. She opened the bundle a bit more to see the sex of the baby. "It's a girl." She quickly covered her up, to protect her from the cold. "What should we name her?"

Pete shrugged. "I'm not so good at names, why don't you pick one out?"

His fiancé thought about it as she looked at the sleeping baby, so small and pure. "Imogen Tyler."

Pete smiled at his fiancé. "That's a lovely name Jackie." He kissed her on the forehead. "Come on, let's hurry to the police before she gets sick."

"Oh, I'm gonna dress you up so much." Jackie cooed to the small baby in her arms. "And we can wear matching outfits!"

Pete rolled his eyes playfully. Poor thing was gonna go through so much with Jackie.

* * *

**22 years later**

**Beep**

**Beep**

**Bee-**

A hand peeked out of the covers and pressed the button to the loud alarm clock. A blonde with messy bed hair poked her head out of the covers and looked at the time with sleepy eyes, taking a moment for her eyes to focus.

The small white alarm clock showed it was 7:00 a.m.

The woman yawned, turned out of bed, slipped her feet into slippers, and put on a below the knee purple dressing robe over her pyjamas.

She ran into the bathroom and quickly hopped into the shower.

When she was finished, she wrapped a towel around her long wet waves and slapped her forehead as she forgot to bring clothing with her when she rushed into the bathroom.

She picked up the dirty clothes and ran to her room.

She threw the clothes into the laundry basket and walked over to the dresser to put on a black and white stripped lacy trimmed knickers and a black t-shirt bra. She put the robe to hang on the over the door hang rack.

The woman walked over to the mirror that rested on top of a small desk that was being used as a vanity. She opened her small black makeup case, pulled out a super skinny eye marker and used it to give herself thin line on her upper eyelid. Then she pulled a passion colored lip stain and applied some on her lips. Simple, yet pretty.

She looked over her work in the mirror and nodded when she was satisfied with it. She took off her towel that was drying her hair so it fell down her back, some strands wet but they all started to become wavy.

The blonde turned her sage eyes to the side and opened the small jewelry box, pulling out the necklace she's had since she was a baby and diamond drop sterling silver earrings that one of her mum's old boyfriends bought her and her sister so they can like him, though he didn't last long after he tried to get at them.

She had never saw a man kicked out so fast in her life. Her mother was very protective of her and her sister, Rose.

She looked over at the time and saw it was now 7:28 a.m. Rose was going to be getting up soon.

She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out some blue skinnies with a white corset cami and a navy elbow sleeved cardigan. She pulled on black slightly pointed flats since she knew was going to be on her feet all day.

She worked in the male clothing department. Rose was working in the female clothing department.

She fixed her hair before grabbing her black faux leather satchel and started to bang on Rose's door.

"Wake up Rose! We're gonna be late!"

"Almost done!" the sound of Rose shuffling things around her room came through the door. "Have you seen my handbag?!"

Imogen tried to remember. "Didn't you throw it on the coffee table last night after we got home?"

Rose opened the door and dashed to the lounge where their mum was currently watching the news in her dressing gown with a cuppa.

They said goodbye to her with a peck on the cheek from each of them. They grabbed their keys and left the flat to go catch the bus before it left them and they had to walk.

Their mum, Jackie, sips her tea and picks up the phone, ready to call her friend Beth to talk about today's show.

The girls talked on their way to work before they had to jump off at their destination, Hendrik's.

The hours went by with a bore until Mickey, Rose's boyfriend, came by to pick the girls up for lunch. They went to a large fountain in Trafalgar Square to enjoy the sun and the fresh air.

Mickey showed them his break dance steps, making the girls laugh and tease him at how ridiculous he looked. The oldest blonde showed them the time and hugged Mickey goodbye, while Rose gave him a kiss.

They return back to work until the end of their shifts.

"Excuse me, Miss." A male lightly tapped Imogen on the shoulder, making her turn around to see a tall thin man wearing a suit and a brown coat.

"Hello, do you need my help?" Imogen gave him a smile.

He had a giant smile on his lips as he looked at her. "Yes." He held up two ties. One was a plain black with white dots, while the other was a black with satin black floral stitching. "Which one do you like most?"

Imogen studied the ties, then pointed to the one in his right hand, the one with floral stitching. "That one. It's lovely." She took it and held it to his chest. "And it'll look good on you."

The man smiled. "Thanks, you know you are amazingly beautiful, you must have them boys chasing after you like crazy."

Imogen snorted as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Did Rose, Mickey, or my mum send you? Because no one comes up to me and lies to me, telling me I'm beautiful."

"They should, because you are." The man kept a smile on his face. "Well, I'll be off then. But before I go, the man you love, no matter the doubt you feel, he loves you so much." He left, leaving a confused Imogen standing there.

"Wait!" she went to catch up to him, but he was gone. "The hell…"

Some of Rose's friends come up to Rose as the announcement goes off.

"This is a customer announcement: the store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you."

"Immy, come on." Rose called out to her sister. "Don't want to miss the bus." Imogen put down the pile of white shirts in their spot and grabbed her bag that Rose handed her. She thanked her sister as they made their way to the doors.

As they were about to pass the security guard, Charlie, he stopped Rose. "Oi!" He held up the lottery winnings for Wilson, the chief electrician.

Rose sighed and grabbed the bag. She turned to her big sister with puppy dog eyes. "Please come with me, I hate going down there alone."

"Of course. Mum would kill me if I didn't come home without you." They ran into the lift and pressed the B button.

They stepped out of the lift and instantly noticed it was too quiet, the hair at the back of Imogen's neck rose. Wilson normally had classical music playing when he was down here.

"Wilson?" Rose called out as they looked around. They walked further down the corridor to where his office was. "Wilson, I've got the lottery money."

Imogen knocked the door that said _HP Wilson CEO_ when no one answered. "Wilson?" She tried to pull the handle but the door was locked. "You there? Look, we can't hang about 'cause they're closing the shop." Imogen grew more worried when no one answered. "Wilson?"

"Uhh, come on!" muttered Rose under her breath to herself, impatient.

There was a sudden sound further along the corridor. The blondes immediately snaps their heads in the direction it came from. They slowly walked more into the hall as Rose called out to Wilson again. "Wilson? It's Rose and Imogen." Imogen tensed up when she hears very low whispering. "Hello? Wil-Wilson?"

Imogen stopped Rose in front of a fire door. "I think I heard something in here."

Rose looked at the door to Imogen. "You sure?"

Imogen nodded and slowly opened the door to see a completely dark room.

"Let's find a switch." Rose felt along the wall until she found it and the room was now lit. "There, a bit less creepy."

The room looked as though it is used for storing shop dummies and a bunch of boxes.

Imogen spotted the dummies and frowned slightly. "The dummies still make it creepy though." Rose agreed with her as they walked further into the room.

"What about that door?" Imogen told Rose as she pointed to a red door. "He could be in there."

"Let's try it." they walked up to the door and were about to open it when the door they came in from closes abruptly… on its own.

"The hell?" The girls ran to the door and tried to pull the door open. "It won't open! Oh, you're kidding me!" Imogen hit the door.

"Let me try!" Imogen got out of the way and let Rose try it as she looked around the room for another way out.

There was small sound from behind them, making Rose stop and look over with Imogen. "What was that?"

Imogen shook her head. "I don't know."

"Is that someone mucking about?" Rose called out. Imogen started to slowly walk toward the back when Rose grabbed the sleeve of her cardigan. "Are you mad?!"

"We have to find out what it is, what if it's Wilson and he's hurt?" Imogen saw how scared her sister was. "Besides, there has to be an exit to this place, like a back door." Rose nodded but wrapped her arm around Imogen's, staying close to her like when they were children as they slowly walked to the back of the room.

Behind them, a dummy slowly turns its head of its own accord, watching the girls. The girls turn around just in time to see it step out of its alcove and towards them. They back away slowly.

Rose laughed nervously, thinking this had to be a prank. "Heh... you got us, very funny." she clenched her sister's arm harder when the dummy says nothing but does not stop advancing toward them. Two more join it. "Right, we've got the joke! Who's idea was this? Was it Derek's?" Rose called out to them.

The dummies still advance - another comes from behind. "Derek, is this you?"

All of the dummies are now alive.

"Go that way!" Imogen moved Rose to the side where there wasn't any dummies coming toward them. Rose backs away and trips over a box, but Imogen stops her from falling to the ground and they back up against a wall.

The dummy lifts its arm to strike them. Rose and Imogen screw their faces up ready for the blow, when a hand grabs Rose's. Rose opens her eyes and snaps her head to look at the owner of the hand.

"Run." A man in a leather jacket dragged the girls through a fire exit. The dummies are in pursuit. The unknown man leads them to a lift.

The dummies right on their tail as the lift doors open. Imogen was the last to enter, and right when she entered, she was grabbed from the back of the neck.

"No!" Rose yelled as she saw her sister struggling. The unknown man grabbed the arm that was holding Imogen and started to pull on it until a small pop and it let her go. "Oh my God! Are you alright?"

Imogen rubbed the back of her neck as she saw the man holding the arm that grabbed her. "Yeah."

Rose saw the arm and backed away from him, closer to her sister, as to protect her from this man. "You pulled his arm off!"

"Yup!" The man then tosses the arm at Rose, who barely catches it in time. "Plastic."

Imogen rubs her neck. _'What were those things?'_

"Very clever, nice trick. Who were they then, students?" asked Rose. "Is this a student thing or what?"

The man turned around to look at the blondes. "Why would they be students?"

"… I don't know!" answered Rose, now unsure.

"Well, you said it! Why students?" he turned back around to the doors of the lift, waiting for them to open.

Rose thought quickly. "'Cause... to get that many people dressed up and being silly... they gotta be students." Rose explained.

The man turned around and grins. He likes her spunk. "That makes sense! Well done." Then turns back around so his back is facing them.

"Thanks." Rose said as she played with the arm.

"They aren't students, they can't be." Imogen told Rose as she rubbed her neck and looked from the arm to the man. "They wouldn't really grab me like that if they were."

The man grinned and booped her nose, making Imogen crossed eyes for a second. "You're right. They aren't students." The man turned around and continued to look at the lift doors.

"Well, whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's gonna call the police." Rose told him.

"Who's Wilson?" The man asked with a confused look on his face as he turned his head towards the sisters.

"Chief electrician." Imogen told him as she looked at him oddly for booping her nose.

"Wilson's dead." He answered plainly as the lift doors opened and he walked right though.

"What?!" Imogen followed the man out of the lift with Rose right behind her, still clutching the arm.

"That's just not funny, that's sick!" Rose yelled at the man.

"Hold on!" The man pushed them to the side. "Careful, mind your eyes." He pulls out a device and it made a noise. The sisters flinched as a spark flashed from the button panel.

"I've had enough of this. Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there?" Rose yelled after him as he walked past them. "I said, who are they?"

"We're talking to you! Don't ignore us!" Imogen yelled at him as they followed him.

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He pulled out an electronic device that looked crudely made. "So!" He opened the door but didn't go through it. "I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process. But don't worry about me, no." he pushed them though the door. "Go home, go on! Go and have your lovely beans on toast." He then gave them a hard look. "Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed."

He shuts the door. The sisters just looked from the door to each other bemused.

Suddenly, he opened the door cheerfully. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, what's your names?"

"Rose."

He turned to the other sister.

"Imogen."

He nodded and gave the girls a smile. "Nice to meet you two, Rose and Imogen." He held up the device again. "Now run for your lives." he slams the door again, making the girls run from the vicinity, carrying the arm of the plastic mannequin, and nearly getting hit by a taxi.

"Watch it!" the taxi driver yelled as he drove off.

When they made it across the street, they looked up to the building, looking for a sign of the Doctor man when top floor blew up.

People panicked and ran around, trying to get out of the way of the falling glass.

"Let's go home!" Imogen yelled to Rose and they ran home.

* * *

**Chapter 2!**

**I've changed Imogen's name so many times lol I finally stuck with Imogen.**

**Pictures of Star and Imogen are on my profile, check it out!**


	3. Fantasic!

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_**Gallifreyan**_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**How are you enjoying the story?**

* * *

"The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Earlier reports in the..." The News 24 reported on the telly said as it showed firefighters hosing down the flames.

Rose and Imogen were watching it when their mum came in from the kitchen and was talking on the phone.

"I know!" she spoke loudly. "It's on the telly! It's everywhere!" she handed Rose her tea and a cup of hot chocolate to Imogen. "They're lucky to even be alive! Honestly it's aged them." She looked them over. "Skins like old bibles. Walking in now you'd think I was one of THEIR daughters!" She walked away from them and back into the kitchen when the front door opened. "Oh and here's himself…"

Mickey rushed in panicked. "I've been phoning your mobiles, you could've been dead! It's on the news and everything!" he started to fuss over Rose. Imogen saw how uncomfortable she was and hid her smile as she drank her drink. "I can't believe that your shop went up!" he hugged Rose but she pushed him off gently.

"I'm alright, honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss." she glared at her sister when she saw she was trying not to laugh.

Mickey got off and sat next to her. "Well, what happened?" he asked them, wondering like everyone else what happened.

"We don't know." Imogen shrugged. "It just happened."

"What was it though, what caused it?" he asked again.

"I don't know. We weren't in the shop. We were outside of the shop, we didn't see anything." Rose told Mickey, she was getting slightly annoyed with all these questions.

Jackie came back with the phone. "It's Debbie on the other end, she knows a man from the Mirror - five hundred quid for an interview! Each!"

Rose plastered on a fake smile. "Oh that's brilliant! Give it here!" Rose told her mother, who handed her the phone. She ended the call and slammed the phone down on the coffee table, smile gone.

Jackie crossed her arms. "Well, you two have gotta find some way of making money. Your jobs are kaput and I'm not bailing you out." The phone rang again and she quickly answered it. "Beth! They're alive! I tell ya, sue for compensation! My poor babies were within seconds of death..." she walked out the room.

"What're you drinking?" Mickey looked in Rose's cup. "Tea? No, no, no, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock, you need something stronger."

"Why? We're fine." groaned Rose as Mickey tried to make her stand up.

"No, you two deserve a proper drink, you, me, and Immy. We're going down the pub, my treat. How about it?" Mickey gave her a goofy smile.

Rose and Imogen looked at each other, they knew why he really wanted them to go down to the pub. "Is there a match on?" Rose asked him.

Mickey put a fake shocked look. "I'm just thinking about you, babe!"

Imogen smirked. "There's a match on."

Mickey's face fell, his sneaky plan hadn't been sneaky after all. "Well, that's not the point. We could catch the last five minutes." He hoped the girls would still come with him.

"Go on then. We're fine, really. Go." Rose told her boyfriend.

"Oh!" Imogen reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the arm. "Get rid of this please?" Mickey gave Rose a kiss and hugged Imogen goodbye, then mimed the arm strangling him as he leaves.

"Your boyfriends a loon." Imogen told Rose playfully.

"He's my loon though." Rose said as she got her cup of tea back. They stayed watching the telly in peace when Rose turned to Imogen. "When are you gonna get one?"

"A what? A loon?" Imogen laughed as she almost choked.

Rose playfully but lightly shoved her. "Nah, a boyfriend! You already have blokes sending you flowers and sweets."

The eldest blonde rolled her eyes and looked over at the dining table to see a bunch of yellow hydrangeas. She scrunched her nose. "Don't remind me of that bloke. Mickey's still trying to get me with him."

Rose frowned, not liking the idea of her sister alone. "You should give him a chance. Mickey says he's nice."

She shook her head. "Don't want to date." Imogen drank the rest of her drink. "Well I'm going to bed, crazy day after all."

They said goodnight and Imogen went to wash her mug as Rose kept watching the news. She walked into her room and changed into some comfy pajamas.

She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Outside, Mickey tosses the arm into a bin as he walks past it.

* * *

**Beep**

**Beep-**

Imogen groaned as she hit the snooze button. Her door opened and Jackie popped her head in.

"Oh! You're awake!" she looked at her daughter surprised. "I was gonna turn off your alarm and let you sleep in."

"It's fine, mum." Imogen told her mother as she got out of bed and pulled her long hair in a high ponytail for the moment so it wasn't all over the place.

"What are you gonna do, love?"

"I don't know… I might see if I could find another job, just need to get ready." She told her as she went over to the wardrobe.

"Okay, sweetheart." She left the room and Imogen searched for the perfect outfit to go out in for an interview.

She put on some slate blue trousers, a white cami, threw on a front button closure rose colored cardigan, and cute black flats. She also put her makeup on like yesterday and brushed her hair so it looks presentable.

Rose's alarm went off and Jackie's voice came from the lounge. "There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to."

Imogen left her room and went over to the kitchen.

"Look at you!" Jackie pinched her daughter's cheek. "You look cute! Do you know where to look for a new job?" Jackie asked Imogen as she handed her some toast.

Imogen took a bite after spreading some strawberry jam on her toast and shook her head. "No idea."

Rose came in and said good morning to her sister and her mother, then sat at the table.

"There's Finches..." Jackie told her daughters as they sat at the table, and joined them. "You two could try them. They've always got jobs."

"Oh, great. The butchers." mumbled Rose, looking annoyed.

"Well it might do you good! That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about getting compensation -" Jackie got up with her mug in her hand. "You've had genuine shock and trauma! Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek!"

Imogen stopped mid-way to biting her toast as she looked at Jackie. "But isn't she Greek?" She called out to her as Jackie turned the corner.

"That's not the point - it's a valid claim."

Imogen laughed and ate her last piece of toast and jam.

Suddenly, Rose and Imogen heard rattling from the door.

"Mum, you're such a liar, I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays!" Rose yelled as she got closer to the door. Imogen stayed sitting at the table.

"I did it weeks back!" defended Jackie, she knew she did. She nearly took out her thumb hammering the nails down.

"No, you thought about it!" Rose yelled back. Rose discovers that the screws have fallen out onto the floor. "What the-?"

The cat flap moves violently.

Rose leaps backwards, then comes back again and pokes the cat flap open gingerly. The Doctor's face is right outside it.

Rose gasps and opens the door.

"What're you doing here?" The Doctor asked as he noticed it was one of the blondes from the shop, Rose if he remembered correctly.

"I live here." Rose told him.

Imogen quickly got up and walked over to the door.

The Doctor spotted Imogen behind Rose and looked surprised. "You too?" he asked her. She nodded. "Well, what do you do that for?" he asked them.

"Because we do! And we're only at home because someone blew up our jobs." Rose glared at the Doctor but he ignored her, going through his leather jacket.

He pulled out a weird tube like thing he used before and pressed a small button on the side of it, showing a blue light. "Must've gotten the wrong signal. None of you are plastic, are you?" he knocked both of their foreheads. "Nope, boneheads. Bye, then!" he waved as he grinned.

"Oh no you don't." Imogen grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him inside. "You, inside. Right now."

"Who is it?" Jackie yelled from her room.

Rose ran to Jackie's room, leaving the Doctor to follow Imogen.

She pokes her head into Jackie's bedroom. "It's about last night, he's part of the inquiry. Give us 10 minutes." She ran off and the Doctor and Imogen were left standing there by Jackie's door, though Imogen leaned against the wall, out of Jackie's view.

"They deserve compensation!" Jackie told the Doctor, before she got a good look at him. _'Oh my, he is handsome.'_

"Huh, we're talking millions." He told her as he looked around as leans against the doorframe, waiting for Rose to come back.

Jackie looks at him for a moment and stands up, flirtatiously. She cleared her throat. "I'm in my dressing gown."

"Yes, you are." The Doctor answered plainly, not noticing Jackie flirting with him.

"There's a strange man in my bedroom." She tried again.

"Yes, there is." He replied plainly again.

"Well, anything could happen."

Imogen tried not to laugh as she stayed out of her mum's sight, to not embarrass her.

The Doctor noticed what she was doing. "No." he shook his head no and walks off. Jackie pulls a face at his back.

Imogen follows him to the lounge, where Rose was fixing it up a bit.

"Don't mind the mess." Rose told him as she moved stuff around.

"Do you want a coffee?" Imogen asked him kindly.

"Might as well, thanks! Just milk." He gave her a smile as she walked over to the kitchen to start to prepare the coffee.

"We should go to the police, seriously, the three of us." Rose started to tell the Doctor. The doorbell rang. "I got it!" she walked off to get it.

The Doctor picks up a gossip magazine. "That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien."

Imogen continued to make the coffee, ignoring the Doctor's ramblings. "We're not blaming you, even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong."

The Doctor picks up a book and flicks through it. "Sad ending."

"They said on the news they'd found a body." Imogen continued to talk. "I guess you were right about it being Wilson."

The Doctor picks up a couple of envelopes and reads it. "Rose Tyler. Imogen Tyler. Huh, sisters." He then takes a look in the mirror for the first time. "Ahh, could've been worse!" He started to prod his large ears. "Look at me' ears."

"All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke." Imogen frowned as she remembered the nice old man who would hum classical as he ate jammy dodgers.

The Doctor shuffles a pack of cards. "Luck be a lady!" he sang.

Imogen continued preparing the coffee for him. "Well anyway if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what we're saying."

The Doctor shuffles the cards again and manages to make them all go flying.

Imogen continues, not noticing the Doctor. "I want you to explain everything."

"Maybe not." The Doctor grumbles to himself as the cards fall to the ground. He freezes as he hears scuffling from behind sofa. "What's that then?" he called out to the blonde in the kitchen. "You got a cat?"

"No," Imogen grabbed another mug for her tea as the Doctor leans behind the sofa and the dummy's arm leaps out and grabs him by the neck. "We use to, but it was one of the strays that come in from the estate." Imogen wandered in to the lounge where the Doctor is being strangled viciously by the hand while he tries vainly to fight it off. She does not quite seem to register that the Doctor is being harassed by a rubber hand.

"I told Mickey to chuck that out. Stop acting like a child!" She scolds him as she put the cups down carefully on the coffee table. "Honestly, give a man a plastic hand... anyway, I don't even know your name, Doctor... what was it?"

The Doctor throws the hand off and it flies across the room, heading towards Imogen's face. She screams and ducks.

It hit the wall, but didn't fall. It climbed the wall until it reached the ceiling.

Rose came in holding a vase of red roses. "More bloody flowers from- ah!" she screamed and dropped the flowers as the hand attacked her face.

Jackie is drying her hair, completely oblivious.

"Rose!" the Doctor and Imogen started to pull at the hand but it wouldn't move. They pulled so hard they all fell back onto the glass coffee table, breaking it, thankfully the cups didn't fall on them, and roll onto the floor. The Doctor pushes Rose back onto the sofa.

"Do something!" Imogen told the Doctor as she panicked.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out the thing he used on the lift and clicked it on a couple times. It was acting like it was on the fritz.

He pressed it against the end of it, making it let go. He grabbed it and pressed it against the palm, disabling the hand.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "It's alright, I've stopped it. There you go, you see?" he threw it at Rose. She caught it. "'Armless." He joked.

Imogen took the arm away from Rose and whack him across the head with it. "Do you think? "

He said ow, and then started to leave.

The Doctor is running down the stairs, Imogen and Rose hot on his tail.

"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off!" Rose told him as they chased him down the steps.

"Yes I can. Here I am, this is me, swanning off. See ya!" he called back to them as he quickly went down the stairs.

"That arm was moving. It tried to kill me!" yelled Rose.

"Ten out of ten for observation." he told her.

"You can't just walk away that's not fair!"

"You've got to tell us what's going on." Imogen told him this time, hoping he would stop walking so fast.

"No I don't." he answered.

They reach the bottom of the stairs and go through the doors.

"Alright then." Rose put a smug face. "We'll go to the police. We'll tell everyone." The Doctor just grinned. "You said, if we did that, we'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell us, or we'll start talking."

"Is that supposed to sound tuff?" he asked Rose as he raised an eyebrow.

"Sort of." Rose mumbled, losing her smug look.

"It doesn't work." He told her.

"Sounding tuff isn't really her thing." Imogen told the Doctor with a grin, but she became serious. "Now, who are you?"

"I told you! The Doctor."

"Yeah. But Doctor what?" Rose asked as she quickened her pace.

"Just the Doctor." He walked fast with his long legs, the girls had slight difficulty catching up to him.

"The Doctor?"

He waved in Rose's face, "Hello!"

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" Imogen grinned as she looked him over.

He laughed. "Sort of, though I had a… friend of mine that was all sorts of impressive though, no matter what." He looked sad again.

"Come on, then." Rose groaned. "You can tell us. We've seen enough. Are you the police?"

"No. I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home and I got… word of something interesting."

"Like what?" Imogen tilted her head, curious.

"Nothing." He said quickly with a smile.

"But what have we done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after us?" Rose asked him.

"Oh! Suddenly the entire world revolves around you two!" The Doctor mocked Rose "You two were just an accident, you got in the way, that's all."

"It tried to kill us!" yelled Rose.

"It was after me, not any of you two! Last night, in the shop, I was there, you two blundered it. Almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, when I got a bleep of something, I got a signal from this." He held up the plastic arm. "It was trying to track me down. The only reason it fixed on you two is that you met me."

Imogen raised an eyebrow at him. "So what're saying is that the whole world, no sorry, universe revolves around you?"

The Doctor nodded and gave her a big smile. "Sort of, yeah."

"You're so bloody full of it." Imogen laughed, the area above her nose scrunching up a bit and her eyes squinted a bit.

"Sort of, yeah." The Doctor grinned, noticing how nice it was to laugh with these humans.

"But, all this plastic stuff -" started Rose. "Who else knows about it?"

"No one." He answered grimly.

"What, you're on your own?" Imogen asked him, feeling bad for him.

"Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly! When all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on!" the Doctor answered with a slight dark look in his eyes.

"Fine." Rose took the arm away. "Start from the beginning. If you're gonna go with this living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do... how did you kill it?"

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead." The Doctor explained to them.

"So that's radio control?" Rose scratched her head.

"No, thought control." He looked at both at them as they stayed silent. "You alright?"

"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?" Imogen asked the Doctor as they continued to walk.

"Long story."

"But what's it all for? I mean," Rose shook her head. "Shop window dummies... what's that about?" she chuckled. "Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"

They all laughed.

"No." the Doctor answered.

"Well," Imogen chuckled, "They kind of are."

"It's not a price war." The Doctor said making the sisters laugh. "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you." He said suddenly seriously, making them stop. "Do you believe me?" he looked at them in the eyes.

"No." answered Rose.

"I…" Imogen sighed and rubbed her face, not knowing what to say.

He smirked. "But you're still listening."

Rose stopped walking, pulling her sister to stop with her, but the Doctor walks on.

"Really though, Doctor. Tell us - who are you?"

He stopped turned around and smiled a bit, but it was wiped away. "Do you know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving?" he took a couple steps until he was in front of them again. "It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it." He grabbed Rose's right hand in his right and Imogen's left hand with his left.

"The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you two and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go..." he let go of their hands and a shaky breath leaves Imogen's lips as her heart tries to slow back down. "That's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler." He nodded to Rose. "Imogen Tyler." He nodded to Imogen. "Go home." He took the arm back waves it in their face. He walks away.

The blondes watch his retreating back and then start to walk themselves.

The Doctor steps into a police box.

Rose and Imogen hears the sound of the something wheezing. They run back as fast as they can.

The police box is gone.

Rose shields her eyes from the sun, as Imogen looks around her, and then they walk away again.

"Where… where did he…" Rose mumbled as she looked at the spot.

"I don't know…"

"I'm gonna head to Mickey's. What're you gonna do?" Rose asked her sister as they started walking back.

"I'm gonna go back to the flat. Phone me if anything."

They said their goodbyes as they separated.

When Imogen entered the house, she called out or her mother, but no one answered.

She spotted a post-it note on the wall near the door and read it.

_Girls,_

_Gone on a lunch date with Michael, the blonde with the nice bum I told you about. Will ask around for compensation after._

_Be home soon!_

_Mum_

Imogen rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly.

She threw herself down onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the recent events.

**Knock **

**Knock **

**Knock**

Imogen jumped up and went over to the door. "Doctor?" she looked surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor nodded to her and looked behind her. "Where's Rose?"

"Out with her boyfriend. Hold on." She took out her mobile and texted Rose, asking her where she was at. "She's getting pizza. Come on, I know the place."

Imogen locked the door behind her and was about to drag him to the pizza place that Mickey and Rose hang out at sometimes.

"Get in." The Doctor said as he opened a blue police phone box.

Imogen looked at the box confused, wondering what the hell this guy was on for getting inside a big blue box. She made her way over and slightly pushed it open, then peeked in. Her sage eyes grew wide as she saw a giant room with the Doctor running around instead of the Doctor squished in the small space.

She quickly moved from the door and ran around the box, wondering how that was possible. "How…" her eyes were wide as she ran around.

"Just get in already!" The Doctor yelled from inside the box.

Imogen stood in front of it, and braced herself. She opened the door and stepped inside. "It's…"

The Doctor waved his hand. "Yes, yes, hurry up."

As soon as her eyes connected with the middle of the room where the Doctor was, a pretty hum went around the room and some on the lights flickered excitedly.

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked around confused. "That hasn't happened in a while… a long while." He looked over to the blonde as she walked over to the Doctor, looking around in wonder. "Anything you want to say?"

"It's beautiful in here." She looked around the buttons and walls of the place.

He blinked slowly. "I expected something else, but thank you!" the humming went off again. "She quite likes compliments, she's getting tired of mine." He patted the console fondly. "She's the last TARDIS in the universe. Time And Relative Dimension In Space." he started to push some buttons and levers. "Hold on."

Imogen did as he said and held on; expecting it to be a bumpy ride, but it was smooth. He dragged her to the door, but Imogen gave the TARDIS another look before they walked out, wanting to remember this amazing moment. The lights flickered in a melody as they left.

Imogen looked around and saw that they were in a large alley way that was behind the pizza shop. "How-"

"We're going by the back." The Doctor dragged her to the back door, and they snuck in through the kitchen. "I want you to stay out of sight, her boyfriend is one of those plastic things and he's in there with Rose." He grabbed a champagne bottle from a young bloke. "Thanks mate." He ran out of the kitchen area.

Rose and Mickey sit at a table for two in a restaurant.

"Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had a few jobs going in the canteen. That's it then... dishing out chips... I could do A Levels..." Rose was sulking in her chair as plastic Mickey stares at her, grinning. "I dunno. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him, and look where he ended up. What do you think?" she looked at her

Plastic Mickey just grinned. "So, where did you meet this Doctor?"

Rose gave him a look. "I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?"

Plastic Mickey continued, still grinning manically. "Because, I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Is he something to do with that?"

Rose looked down and started to play with the napkin in her hands. "No..."

Plastic Mickey gave her a look. "Come on."

She sighed. "Sort of."

Plastic Mickey moved in closer. "What was he doing there?"

"I'm not going on about him, Mickey, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft but... I don't think he's safe." Rose lowered her voice to a whisper. "I think he's dangerous."

"But you can trust me sweetheart!" his voice started to change in quick succession. "Babe, sugar, darling, sugar." Rose looked at her 'boyfriend' confused as he continued. "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really wanna do, sweetheart, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

"What're you doing that for?"

A Waiter approaches the table. "Your champagne."

Plastic Mickey waves him off. "We didn't order any champagne." He reached over and grabbed Rose's hand. "Where's the Doctor?"

The Waiter has simply moved to the other side of the table and holds the bottle out to Rose. "Ma'am. Your champagne."

Rose didn't look at him as she waved him off. "It's not ours... Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?"

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"

Plastic Mickey, exasperated, raises his eyes to the waiter for the first time. "Look, we didn't order i-" the waiter turns out to be the Doctor. "Ah. Gotcha."

The Doctor shakes the bottle. "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!"

The cork pops out and hits Mickey squarely on the forehead. His forehead absorbs the cork and he spits it out of his mouth. It is finally revealed to Rose that Mickey has in fact been replaced.

"Anyway." His hands turn into clubs and he smashes the table in. Rose screams and runs out of the way towards her sister who ran from the kitchen doorway. The Doctor grabs his head and pulls it off after wrestling with it for a couple of seconds.

The head opened its eyes. "Don't think that's gonna stop me."

A couple at a nearby table scream, but the Doctor grins. Rose presses the fire bell.

Rose slammed her palm into a fire alarm, making a siren go off. "Everyone out! Out now!"

Everyone runs for the exit.

Headless Mickey stays inside, blindly smashing tables with his club-hands.

"This way!" Imogen led Rose and the Doctor run through the kitchen and out of a back exit.

With headless Mickey in hot pursuit. The Doctor locks a metal door with his strange tube while Rose tries desperately to find an escape out of the yard they are in. She bangs desperately at some locked gates.

"Open the gate!" Rose yelled as she pulled the lock. "Use that tube thing, come on!"

"What, this? This is a sonic screwdriver." He told Rose plainly as we calmly walked to the TARDIS. "Come along, Imogen."

"Use it!" yelled Rose as she started to panic more.

"Nah. Tell ya what, let's go in here." The Doctor entered the TARDIS with Imogen following after him, a little unsure.

The Doctor was plugging the head to the console, looking for the origin of the signal.

Headless Mickey is beginning to make dents in the door from the other side. Rose runs to look at it.

"We can't hide inside a wooden box!" She runs to the gate and rattles the chains. "It's gonna get us! Doctor!" Rose ran into the TARDIS. Rose slams the door behind her, takes a few steps in, looks around, then runs straight back out again.

She walks once around the police box and arrives back at the front again. Headless Mickey finally makes a hole in the door, so she runs back into the police box. "It's gonna follow us!" she said scared and out of breath.

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." The Doctor said rudely.

Rose stands trembling near the door of the TARDIS, looking around at how huge it is compared with the outside. The Doctor is wiring up the head of the fake Mickey.

He pressed some buttons as he talked, though he would look at Imogen from time to time, as if he's talking to her. "You see, the arm is too simple, but the head's perfect." he seemed excited as he continued plugging tubes into the head as Imogen just nodded along. "I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right." He placed the head down and turned to Rose, giving her his full attention with his hands in his pockets. "Where do you want to start?"

"Um…" she looked around the TARDIS overwhelmed. "The inside's bigger than the outside?"

The Doctor looked over to Imogen with a giant grin on his face. "That's what I was expecting!" The Doctor turned back to Rose and nodded. "Yes."

"It's alien." She kept her voice low, scared.

"Yep." He popped the p.

"Are you alien?" she asked slowly.

"Yes." There was a pause as Rose and Imogen stare at him. "Is that alright?" he looked at the girls.

"Yeah." Rose said a little too quickly and in a high pitched voice, meaning she was uncomfortable.

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." A small sob came from Rose. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

Imogen rolled her eyes and hit the Doctor in the chest as she walked over to Rose. "She's not crying because of that, you Dumbo."

The Doctor pouted and rubbed his ears. They weren't that large… were they?

"Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" Rose looked at the Doctor, hoping the answer was a no.

The Doctor scratched his head. "Oh... didn't think of that."

Rose grew angry. "He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head - they copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?!" she pointed to where the head was.

"Melt?" the Doctor turns around in time to see 'Mickey's' head melting with a bubbling noise. "Oh, no no no no no NO!" He starts running frantically around the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Rose.

"Reviving the signal, it's fading! Wait I've got it..." he looks at screen. "No No No No No No NO!"

The TARDIS shakes as the engines move, making the girls hold onto the railings.

"Almost there! Almost there! Here we go!" The engines stop and the Doctor runs out of the TARDIS doors without another word.

Imogen peeked outside. "Immy! No! You can't go out there, it's not safe!"

"We're fine." She tried to reassure her sister as she pulled her out and saw they had arrived on the edge of the River Thames. "See?"

Rose looked around more scared.

"I lost the signal, I got _so_ close." the Doctor grumbled to himself.

"We've moved! Does it fly?" Rose asked the Doctor as she looked at the blue box.

"Disappears there, reappears here, you wouldn't understand."

"But if we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "It melted with the head, are you going to witter on all night?"

"I'll have to tell his friends and mum." Rose looked at Imogen with sad eyes. The Doctor looks at her questioningly, which just got Rose angry again. "Mickey! I'll have to tell his friends and our mum he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again!" the Doctor just rolled his eyes, unconcerned. "You were right, you ARE alien." She turns to walk away. "Come on, Immy."

He sighed. "Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"

Rose cut him off. "Yeah, he's not a kid."

The Doctor continued on. "It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, alright?"

"Alright!" Rose was furious.

"Yes! It is!" yelled the Doctor.

"ENOUGH!" Imogen yelled at the top of her lungs. "I'm getting a headache listening to this childish fighting!"

That got them both to be quiet but they had crossed their arms and looked away from each other.

Rose broke the silence first. "If you are an alien, then how comes you sound like you're from the North?"

"Lots of planets have a North." grumbled The Doctor.

"What's a police public call box?" Rose read the sign on the box.

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s." he pats the TARDIS fondly, grinning. "It's a disguise."

Imogen smiles and shakes her head. "Like a boy and his toy, so proud." she mumbles under her breath. "Okay. And this living plastic, what's it got against us?" she asked the Doctor as he looked at her hard.

Her words reminded him of his past, but he shook himself out of the painful memories, going back to grinning. "Nothing, it loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air... perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth... dinner!" he said with a big smile as he mimed himself eating.

"Any way of stopping it?" asked Rose softly.

Grinning, the Doctor produces a tube of blue liquid from his jacket. "Anti-plastic!"

"Anti-plastic…" The humans repeated confused as they looked at the tube.

"Anti-plastic!" he rubbed the tube. "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" he started to look around.

"Hold on, now I'm starting to get a headache, hide what?" asked Rose as she rubbed her head.

"The transmitter!" he said to her like she was stupid. "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?" Imogen asked as she looked around.

"Like a transmitter." He answered quickly.

"That helps." she replied sarcastically.

He glared at her but continued. "Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London." He paces around, agitated, looking around for a clue. "A huge circular metal structure... like a dish, a wheel, close to where we're standing." He stands facing the girls, his back to the railings of the bridge. Behind him, the London Eye looms 450 feet above them, but he doesn't seem to register. "Must be COMPLETELY invisible." He crossed his arms and leaned back on to the bridge railing.

Rose and Imogen consider the Eye behind him.

"What?" he asked them.

Imogen nods towards the Eye. The Doctor turns around, then back to her, completely nonplussed. "What?" he asked again. Imogen sighed as Rose shakes her head, looking at the Eye still. He turns around but still fails to make the connection. "What? What is it?" Rose and Imogen simply carry on staring at it.

The Doctor turns around again and finally, it clicks. "Oh… Fantastic!"

He grins inanely and runs off.

* * *

**Chapter 3!**


	4. Dummies

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

Hand in hand, the Doctor, Imogen, and Rose run across London Bridge towards the Eye.

They came to a halt at the foot of the Eye.

"Think of it." The Doctor told the humans as he looked around. "Plastic, all over the world. Every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables..."

"The breast implants…" added Rose.

"That's gonna be horrible to see." Imogen muttered as they looked around.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

Rose runs off and finds the entrance to a manhole at the foot of the wall she is looking over. "What about down here?"

The Doctor and Imogen run over to join her. "Looks good to me." The Doctor grins insanely.

They run down the stairs to the manhole. The Doctor takes the lid off it, and red light and smoke pours out.

The Doctor climbs down the ladder underground first, then Imogen, then Rose.

The Doctor opens the door to another chamber and they go down some steps. The Doctor points to a huge, orange, wobbling mass in the middle of the chamber.

"The Nestene Consciousness, that's it, inside the vat. A living, plastic creature."

"Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go." Rose motioned to leave as they looked around.

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance."

They go down some more steps. The Doctor leans over the railings and addresses the Consciouness. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract. According to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

The Consciouness flobbles around a bit.

"Thank you. That I might have permission to approach."

Meanwhile, as Rose paces around in the background, she spots Mickey and runs to him with Imogen hot on her heels. The Doctor rolls his eyes. "Oh, my God! Mickey! It's okay! It's alright!" They squat down next to him.

Mickey shushed Rose. "That thing down there, the liquid, Rose - it can talk!"

"You're stinking!" Rose moved a bit away. "Doctor, they kept him alive!"

The Doctor was just walking down the steps like nothing. "Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy."

Imogen got up and marched after him. "You knew that and you never said?"

The Doctor just turned back to her as they reached the last steps. "Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?"

She growled and followed him, ready to give him a good smack in the back of the head when she froze. She was so close to the Consciousness now.

Rose helps Mickey to his feet.

The Doctor approached the Consciousness. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" it globbered at the Doctor's question. "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warped, shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

The plastic globbers in what appears to be a negative manner.

The Doctor continued. "Oh don't give me that, it's an invasion! Plain and simple! Don't talk about constitutional rights!"

The plastic looked like it was rearing its 'head' angrily.

"I - am - talking!" his voice bellowed around the chamber, quieting the plastic. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf - please, just go."

"Doctor! Imogen!" Rose called out when her sister was grabbed by one of the window shop dummies while the Doctor had two holding him.

The dummy dragged Imogen forward towards the Doctor.

One of the Dummies takes out the anti-plastic from his jacket pocket.

"That was just insurance! I wasn't going to USE it." Doctor tried to explain but the plastic globbered angrily. "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not..." the plastic made some noises. "What do you mean?"

They turned their heads to see doors open above them to show the TARDIS.

"Oh, oh no - honestly, no! Yes, that's my ship."

The plastic roars.

"That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war - it wasn't my fault! I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!" the Doctor sounded like he was hurt.

"Doctor!" Imogen called out to him as she tried to fight against the plastic's hold. "What's it doing?!"

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene has identified its superior technology - it's terrified!" he turned his body a bit and kicked the dummy that was holding Imogen down, knocking it back with her. "It's going to the final base. It's starting the invasion! Get out! Just leg it! Now!"

Imogen ran up the steps towards Rose, to see she was on her mobile. "Mum?"

"You're calling mum now?!"

* * *

Jackie is going down the steps of a police station when her mobile rang. "Oh, there you are, I was just gonna phone you and your sister. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police - don't thank me!"

* * *

Rose ignored Imogen. "Where are you, mum?"

* * *

"I'm in town!" Jackie said as she walked around town Centre.

* * *

"Go home!" Rose tried to warn their mother. "Just go home, right now!"

* * *

"Darling, you're breaking up, look, I'm just going to do a bit of late night shopping. I'll see you later. Tara!" She hangs up.

* * *

"Mum?! Mum!" she looked at her mobile.

"What happened?" Imogen asked Rose, worried for their mother. "Is she okay?"

* * *

Jackie heads into the Queens Arcade shopping Centre.

* * *

The Consciousness sent out a signal. "It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!" the Doctor yelled as he fought against the three dummies.

* * *

Outside, the electric blue signal shoots around the Eye.

* * *

"The end of the world..." Rose whispers as she held onto Imogen's hand tight as they watched a blue electric strike hit the ceiling.

* * *

The activation signal transmits from the London Eye.

* * *

"Get out, Rose! Just get out, Imogen! Run!" The Doctor yelled as they ran towards the stairs but part of the ceiling falls in and takes the stairs down.

"The stairs have gone!" Imogen yelled down to the Doctor as Rose and Mickey try desperately to get into the TARDIS.

"I haven't got the key!" Rose cried.

Mickey sobbed. "We're gonna die!"

* * *

Inside the Queen's Arcade, the shopping centre is in chaos. Jackie stands at the bottom of the escalator looking confused for a few seconds, then screams and runs, dropping her shopping bag.

* * *

Imogen held Rose and Mickey as they could only watch the world end in their spots.

* * *

Outside, Jackie finds that there is just as much chaos outside the shopping centre as there is inside. An army of dummies come out of the doors. Jackie runs down the road and ducks behind a car outside a wedding shop. The dummies in the window punch through the glass. Jackie screams.

* * *

Rose and Imogen watch as the Doctor struggle to get to the anti-plastic, then Rose seems to reach some kind of decision. She stands up.

Mickey grabs onto her leg. "Just leave him!"

* * *

The wedding dummies advance dangerously on Jackie. All three hold their arms out ready to shoot.

* * *

Rose shakes him off and runs to the side. "There's nothing you can do!"

* * *

The dummies raise their guns. The hands open to reveal the space where the bullets can be released. Jackie cowers.

* * *

Imogen saw Rose struggling with getting the chain loose.

She spotted an ax on the ground and picked it up. "Move!" Rose jumped out of the way as she swung the ax at the chain, breaking it free.

Rose grabbed the chain and went to the edge. "I've got no A Levels. No job... No future. But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7's gymnastic team. I got the bronze!"

Rose swings across the gap over the Consciousness. She kicks the dummies holding the Doctor hostage into the Nestene, anti-plastic and all. The Consciousness starts to writhe and scream. Rose lands safely in the Doctor's arms at the other side of the gap.

"Now we're in trouble." The Doctor commented.

The Consciousness starts to explode as Rose and the Doctor run off. The signal from the Eye is cut off.

* * *

The Autons in the high street that were previously attacking people, stop, and start to twitch as if they are doing some kind of dance. Jackie uncovers her eyes warily.

* * *

Imogen ran toward the TARDIS door and nearly fell in when it opened randomly. Rose, the Doctor and Mickey all manage to reach the TARDIS after Imogen. Rose grins at the Consciousness before she goes in and closes the door, as it starts to die. Just before the whole chamber goes up in flames, the TARDIS disappears.

* * *

The dummies all fall to the ground, twitching at first, but dead.

* * *

In an alleyway, the TARDIS completely forms. Mickey runs backwards out of the TARDIS and falls over, looking terrified. He backs against a wall.

Rose, however, steps out calmly.

Imogen does the same as she takes out her mobile, ringing her mother.

* * *

Jackie nearly screamed when her mobile rang, quickly picking it up to see it was her eldest. "Imogen! Rose! Don't go out of the house, it's not safe!"

* * *

Imogen laughs, relieved to hear her voice and nod to Rose, telling her she's alright as Jackie continues. "There were all of these things! And they were shooting! And they-"

Satisfied that Jackie is alive, Imogen hangs up on her, smiling to herself. Her hand shook slightly from the actions of today.

* * *

Jackie yelled into the phone when she couldn't hear her daughter. "Hello? Hello?"

* * *

Rose ran over to Mickey. "A fat lot of good you were!"

Mickey whimpers. The Doctor stands in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Nestene Consciousness?" he clicked his fingers. "Easy."

Rose snorted teasingly. "You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for us."

"Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then! I'll be off! Unless, uh... I don't know... you two could come with me." Rose looks at him and puts her hands in her pockets and Imogen moves a strand of her hair away from her eyes as the Doctor continued. "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know, it goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."

"Don't! He's an alien! He's a thing!" Mickey pointed to the Doctor.

"He's NOT invited." The Doctor nodded to Mickey. "What do you think? You two could stay here and fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go, uh... anywhere." He shrugged with a grin.

"Anywhere?" Imogen took a step forward and stared in wonder, the possibility filling her mind. The Doctor nodded, knowing her answer. Imogen smiled, but hid it by biting her lip.

"Is it always this dangerous?

The Doctor nodded at Rose's question. "Yeah."

Mickey puts his arms around Rose's legs like a little child.

That caught Rose's attention. "Yeah, we can't... we've um... gotta go and find our mum and um... someone's gotta look after this stupid lump..." she gives a small laugh, pats Mickey on the back. "So..."

The Doctor turned to Imogen. "What about you?"

Imogen opened and closed her mouth. "I-I don't know. To see something that amazing and beautiful in a blue box." She sighed. "I would love to see what it can do, but I can't just leave my sister and my mum." The Doctor frowned, he was so sure he had her. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor nodded, a bit sad he had been turned down by both sisters. "Okay. See you around."

Rose looks at him intensely, as if she still hasn't really made up her mind while Imogen looked saddened at the thought of never seeing the wonderful blue box again.

The Doctor does not take his eyes off them, but closes the door.

They look at the closed door.

The engines of the TARDIS rev up, and it slowly disappears. The girls stare at the space where it was, lost in thought.

"There it went." Imogen whispered, Rose barely hearing it.

"Come on, let's go." Rose tried to get her boyfriend up but he won't move.

Mickey is in absolute shock, staring at the empty space where the TARDIS stood.

Rose continued to try to move him. "C'mon... come on..."

She helps him to his feet with Imogen's help and they begin to walk away.

However, the sound of the engines is heard again.

The trio spin around as the TARDIS reappears.

Rose and Imogen's hearts started to pace as the Doctor pops his head out.

"By the way - did I mention, it also travels in time?" He grins and goes back in - leaving the door ajar.

Imogen doesn't think twice about it as she ran into the TARDIS, hearing the beautiful hum as she entered. She loved History and always wanted to travel to different places.

Rose turns to Mickey. "Thanks."

Mickey looks confused. "Thanks for what?"

"Exactly." She kisses his cheek and runs into the TARDIS with a broad smile on her face.

Imogen smiles at the Doctor as Rose ran in. "Show us what you got!"

* * *

**There it is, the end of episode 1 :).**


	5. First Adventure

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**RosesMoon: **_Thanks for being the first reviewer! Here is the update!_

* * *

The Doctor smiled at the blondes. "Right then, Tyler sisters - you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. What's it going to be?"

Imogen and Rose turned to each other, whispering on where they should go. They finally came to an agreement. "Forwards."

The Doctor presses a few buttons. "How far?"

Imogen shrug as Rose picked a random number. "One hundred years."

He pulls a lever and turns a knob. The engines lurch and then stop after a few seconds. "There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century."

"You're kidding." Rose and Imogen had giant grins on their face.

The Doctor shrugged. "That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?"

Imogen laughed excitedly. "Fine by us!"

The Doctor starts up the engines again. When they stop, he looks at them. "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire."

Imogen shook her head teasingly as Rose was nearly bouncing from excitement. "You think you're so impressive."

"I AM so impressive!" he frowned.

"You wish!" Rose teased.

"Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." He revs up the engine, and pumps a lever furiously. "Hold on!"

The TARDIS hurtles through the time vortex. With a pinging noise, the TARDIS stops.

"Where are we?" Rose asked once the shaking stops.

The Doctor gestures towards the doors.

Imogen smiles excitedly. "What's out there?"

The Doctor gestures again. Rose and Imogen hold hands as they step outside the doors.

The human girls find themselves in some kind of wooden room.

The Doctor follows them and with his sonic screwdriver, opens the shutters of an enormous window. They go down the stairs and find themselves looking down on the planet Earth in awe.

"You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day... hold on..." He looks at his watch. The Sun started to glow and expand. "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

The blondes look at the Doctor shocked, then back to the Earth.

* * *

Outside platform one, two space shuttles zoom towards Platform One, essentially a huge space station.

A computer voice goes off. "Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."

* * *

Rose, Imogen, and the Doctor are walking down a corridor.

"So, when it says 'guests' does that mean people?"

The Doctor didn't look at Rose as he answer her question. "Depends what you mean by people."

Rose knit her eyebrows together. "I mean people. What do you mean?"

"Aliens."

Imogen looked around. "What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?"

The Doctor starts to open a door with his sonic screwdriver. "It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

Imogen frowned. "What for?"

"Fun." They enter a large observation gallery. "Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." The Doctor continued.

Rose shook her head. "But, hold on, they did this once on 'Newsround Extra' - the sun expanding - that takes hundreds of years."

The Doctor stops them in front of the giant window, showing the extended Sun. "Millions. But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" he points out of the window at tiny glints of light orbiting the Earth. "Gravity satellite. That's holding back the sun."

The girls peer out the window to look at the lights that were orbiting the Earth. "The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things."

"On the documentaries we use to watch back home said they would." Imogen scanned the Earth. "Did they ever move?"

The Doctor nodded. "They did. And the trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!"

"How long has it got?"

The Doctor looks at his watch. "About half an hour. And the planet gets roasted."

Rose turned to the Doctor. "Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm not saving it. Time's up."

"What?" Imogen whipped her head to look at the Doctor. "But what about the people?" the fear in her voice was clear.

"It's empty! They're all gone. All left."

The humans look back to the window, realization spreading across their faces.

Rose felt her sister hold her hand. "Just us then." She whispered.

The Steward hurries towards them, a tall blue man with snake eyes walked in and spotted the trio. "Who the hell are you?"

The Doctor spun around. "Oh! That's nice, thanks."

The Steward glared at him. "But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!"

"That's me, I'm a guest, look! I've got an invitation!" he flashes a small leather wallet at the Steward. "Look, there you see? It's fine, see? The Doctor plus two. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose and Imogen Tyler. They're my plus two. That all right?"

The Steward stiffens, he had just yelled at guests. "Well... obviously." The Doctor grins. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on-board, we'd better start. Enjoy."

The Doctor nods at him. After he walks off, the Doctor shows the girls the card he had flashed at the blue man. Rose saw a ticket with the words 'The Doctor plus two', yet Imogen looked at it confused, why was it blank?

"The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." He explains.

"Why is it blank?" Imogen poked the paper. "Is it broken?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask her what she meant when Rose cut him off. "He's blue."

"Yeah."

"Okay..."

The Steward is now speaking through a microphone at the other end of the suite. "We have in attendance, the Doctor, Imogen Tyler, and Rose Tyler. Thank you! All staff to their positions. "He claps his hands and a lot of little blue people, the staff, start scurrying around. "Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along! And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."

Three humanoids with large, intricate heads, and wood-like skin walk through the doors. In the front was a female with a beautiful red and golden dress while the males behind her looked like guards.

The blue man continued to speak. "There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank-you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon."

A short blue alien rolled in on a platform.

The Doctor smiles cheerily, as Rose and Imogen look on bewildered.

"And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."

Seven robed beings entered.

The Doctor chuckles at the look on the sister's faces at the people coming through the doors.

"The inventors of hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you!"

New aliens enter as the blue man, the steward, continue to introduce them.

"Cal 'Spark Plug'."

"Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo."

"The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light."

Jabe, the female tree, approaches the Doctor. Either side of her, her companions are holding plant trays with little shoots in them.

"The Gift of Peace." She took a cutting, and hands it to the Doctor. "I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."

"Thank you!" He takes it and hands it to Rose. "Yes, gifts... erm..." He clears his throat and starts feeling his jacket for something, finding nothing, he says. "I give you in return, air from my lungs." He blows gently onto Jabe's face, who closes her eyes briefly.

"How... intimate."

The Doctor changed his tone, and purred to her flirtatiously. "There's more where that came from."

"I bet there is..." she grinned.

Rose and Imogen stare at each other, feeling awkward about being in front of two people flirting… one of them being a tree.

The steward went back onto the announcement. "Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Bo."

A huge head in an equally huge jar is wheeled through the doors.

The Moxx of Balhoon approaches the trio.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor bowed his head respectively.

"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva." He spits accurately into Rose's left eye and Imogen tried to hold in her laughter.

The Doctor doesn't bother holding in his laughter. "Thank you very much."

Rose rubs the spit out of her eye, and glares at her sister.

Next, the Adherents of the Repeated Meme approach them.

"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." The Doctor breathes heavily over them all.

"A gift of peace in all good faith." He holds out a large silver egg, which the Doctor takes, throws up into the air, catches, and hands it to Imogen.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human." The Steward announced.

The Doctor looks at the sisters to see their reactions. The sliding doors open and what looks like a vertical trampoline made of human skin is wheeled through. It has eyes and a mouth, and wears lipstick.

The steward continues. "The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

Cassandra speaks out to everyone. "Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am."

The Doctor laughs silently but heartily and looks at the blondes, who look shocked.

"It can talk?" Imogen whispered to the Doctor and Rose.

"Thin and dainty! I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." One of the two men in white body suits who wheeled her in is holding a canister, which he sprays onto Cassandra. "Truly, I am The Last Human."

Rose creeps closer for a better look while Imogen stays back with the Doctor.

"My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." Cassandra continued to tell her story as Rose walks around to the other side of Cassandra, to get a good view of her from all angles. She is completely flat.

Rose turns to her sister and motions that she is completely flat, making Imogen wide eyed. How can anyone be alive if they're that flat?

"I have come to honour them and..." She sniffed. "...say goodbye. Oh, no tears." One of her bodyguards wipes her eyes. "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself - the last remaining ostrich egg." One of the staff comes in and displays the egg to the room.

"Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils." Rose looks mildly confused. "Or was that my third husband?" Rose rolls her eyes but the Doctor laughs, nudging Imogen. "Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" She laughs and mumbles to herself for a few seconds. Behind her, a large jukebox is wheeled into the room.

"And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers." Rose looks amazed as Imogen just looks at the 'IPod'. "Play on!" One of the staff presses a button and a record falls into place. The 'iPod' starts playing Tainted Love by Soft Cell.

The Doctor bops around appreciatively as Imogen sways a bit in beat to the song. She liked this song.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes." They steward announces as the music continues to play.

Rose had a lost, overwhelmed expression on her face. Everywhere she looks there are aliens, but no other humans expect for her sister. She rushes from the gallery, which catches Imogen's eye. She follows after her. "Rose!"

Concerned, the Doctor starts to follow them, but is stopped by Jabe.

"Doctor?" she snaps a photo of him when he pauses. "Thank you."

The Doctor proceeds on. Jabe walks in the opposite direction.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme are offering the Steward a silver egg. "A gift of peace in all good faith."

The Steward shakes his head and holds his hands up. "No, you're very kind, but I'm just the Steward."

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme holds the egg out more persistently. "A gift of peace in all good faith."

"Oh, yes. Thank you. Of course." He takes the egg.

Meanwhile, Jabe is trying to get her computer to identify the Doctor's species. "Identify species. Please identify species." The computer makes a small whistling noise. "Now, stop it. Identify his race. Where's he from?" after a moment, stares at the computer in disbelief – hushed. "It's impossible."

In a nearby glass cabinet, a metal robotic spider climbs out of one of the metal eggs that the Adherents of the Repeated Meme had been handing out.

* * *

Rose, in another part of the ship, looks out of a window at the raging sun. She jumps when another one of the staff comes into the room, this one female. "Sorry, am I allowed to be in here?"

The employee looks around uneasily. "You have to give us permission to talk." She looks at Rose expectantly.

Rose looks unsure. "Uh... you... have permission...? "

She smiles. "Thank you! And, no. You're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."

"'Kay." The female staff goes to a panel in the wall and enters a code. Rose watches her. "What's your name?"

"Raffalo."

"Raffalo?"

She nods. "Yes, Miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance." She kneels before an air vent. "There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Bo suite. There must be something blocking the system - he's not getting any hot water."

"So, you're a plumber?"

"That's right, Miss."

Rose looks amazed. "They still have plumbers?"

"I hope so! Else I'm out of a job!" she jokes.

Rose laughs. "Where are you from?"

"Crespallion."

"That's a planet, is it?" Rose asked unsure.

"No, Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. And where are you from, Miss?" she seems to remember herself. "If you don't mind me asking."

"No! Not at all. Erm... I dunno, a long way away... I just sort of, hitched a lift with this man with my sister." She only just realized the risk she and her sister had taken onto themselves. "I didn't even think about it... I don't even know who he is... he's a complete stranger..."

Raffalo looks slightly worried.

Rose snaps herself out of it. "Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it!" She begins to walk away.

"Thank you, Miss. And-"Rose turns. "Thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate."

Rose smiles. "'Kay. See you later."

Raffalo nods and smiles. When Rose has gone, she takes the cover off the air vent. "Now then." She peers into the vent and then speaks into a small microphone attached to her collar. "Control - I'm at Junction 19 and I think the problem's coming from in here. I'll go inside and have a look." She hears small tapping. "What's that? Is there something in there?"

A metal spider appears at the end of the shaft.

"Oh! Who are you, then?" The spider scurries away as if frightened. She climbs in. "Hold on! I... if you're an upgrade I just need to register you, that's all. Oh, come back!" A red beam of light fell on Raffalo's face, the spider has come back. "Ah, there you are. Now, I just need to register your ident." Another spider joins the first. "Oh, there's two of you! Got yourself a little mate!"

She giggles. "I think I'd better report this to control. How many of you are there?" a third spider appears, and then a fourth. "What are you? Oh, no. No. Nooooo!" She is dragged head first into the air vent.

* * *

The steward enters his office and puts his egg on a nearby table and sits down. He listens to Control speaking.

"What's that? Well, how should I know?" he activates the loudspeaker. "Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery 15 please report to the steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that use of all teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty 5.4/cup/16. Thank you."

While he is talking, a spider has broken out of his egg and run up the opposite wall.

* * *

The computer voice goes off. "Earth Death in 25 minutes. Earth Death in 25 minutes."

Rose is sitting on the steps, watching the raging sun when she hears this announcement.

"Oh, thanks." She turns her attention to the cutting of Jabe's grandfather. She picks it up. "Hello! My name's Rose. That's a sort of plant. We might be related..."

**Swish**

The door behind her opened to show Imogen looking worried as she held the silver egg. "There you are! Thankfully I heard you while I was running about." she pauses as she takes in the sight of Rose holding up the cutting from Jabe's grandfather. "What are you doing?"

Rose suddenly realizes what she is doing and hurriedly puts the plant down. "I'm talking to a twig."

Imogen shakes her head and goes to sit right next to Rose on the steps, placing the silver egg down behind them. "This seems so unreal, right?"

Rose nods. "A bit too overwhelming really."

Imogen wraps her arm around Rose's should and brings her in for a side hug. "Don't worry, I'm right here."

"Always?" Rose whispered, feeling like they were kids again and Imogen was protecting her from the scary monsters in her wardrobe.

"Always." Imogen puts her head on top of Rose's as they watched the Sun.

Behind them, the spider breaks out of the egg.

* * *

In a corridor, The TARDIS is being dragged away by some of the staff.

"Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches." The Doctor warns them.

One of them walks up to the Doctor, squeaks at him, hands him a card and walks away again. The Doctor reads it - it says 'Have a nice day'.

The Doctor looks at the retreating staff's back as if he or she is completely off his or her rocker, and walks off.

A few of the metal spiders scurry up the wall behind him. A few more are running along the air vent.

* * *

The spider that came out of Imogen's egg appears to be scanning her hand, but both blondes are completely oblivious.

It jumps and runs to the air vent when the Doctor's voice floats through the door.

"Rose? Imogen? Are you in there?"

The spider scrambles through the vent just in time, before the Doctor comes through the door.

"Aye aye!" he sits down on the steps next to the girls. "What do you think, then?"

"Great! Yeah... fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper..." The Doctor laughs at Rose's answer. There is a short pause. "They're just, so alien." The Doctor looked at her questioningly. "The aliens. Are so alien. You look at 'em... and they're alien."

"Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South." The Doctor joked.

Imogen looked at him. "Where are you from?"

"All over the place." He answered simply.

"They all speak English." Rose remembered.

"No - you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain - translates."

"It's inside our brains?" Imogen asked as she ran her fingers through her hair.

The doctor shrugged. "Well, in a good way."

"How is there a good way?" Imogen asked him.

Rose's tone turned cold, starting to sound angry. "Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?"

The Doctor was thrown. "I didn't think about it like that." He really hadn't.

Rose was angry now. "No! You were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South! Who are you then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

The Doctor sits up and looks away from her. "I'm just The Doctor."

"From what planet?" Imogen asked this time.

"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!"

"Where are you from?!" Rose pressed.

"What does it matter?" The Doctor tried to make her drop it.

"Tell us who you are!"

The Doctor suddenly turns angry, making the girls tense up, not expecting it. "This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!"

"Yeah, and we're here too because you brought us here, so just tell us!" Rose snapped. Imogen didn't know what to do, she wasn't expecting this.

The Doctor gets up and walks down the steps away from them.

"Earth Death in 20 minutes. Earth Death in 20 minutes." The computer voice announced.

After a few moments, Imogen gets up and follows the Doctor down the steps. "Alright... as our mate Shareen says... don't argue with the designated driver..."

The Doctor, with his back turned to her, smiles at that.

Rose gets her mobile out of her pocket. "Can't exactly call for a taxi... there's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit!"

"Tell you what..." He takes the phone from her. He held out his hand for Imogen's, who gives it to him. He takes the back off the phones. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery..."

Imogen raised an eyebrow at his words. "Is that a technical term, 'jiggery pokery'?"

The Doctor grins. "Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?" he joked.

"Nah, failed hullabaloo." Imogen joked back with a soft snort.

"Oooh." He fits in a new battery, then hands the phones back to Rose and Imogen. "There you go."

They take it and look at him uncertain.

He nods, telling them that it will work.

"You or me?" Imogen asked her sister for who should call their mum.

Rose gets her mum's number onto the screen and puts the phone to her ear. Imogen pressed her head against Rose's to see if it works.

It rings.

* * *

Back in the Jackie's kitchen, in 2005, the phone rings and Jackie picks it up.

"Hello?"

"Mum?" Rose's heart clenched at the sound of their mother's voice.

Jackie, at home, is putting some washing into the machine. "Oh, what is it? What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits! You should get your money back. Tell Immy I found more of that nail polish she lent me the other day! Go on! There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day!"

She hears her daughters laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jackie huffed.

"Nothing!" she could hear the smile in her youngest daughter's voice. "You alright though?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Let me talk to mum." She heard her eldest tell Rose, then her voice sounded clear as day. "Hi mum, what day is it?"

"Hello." Jackie checks the calendar. "Wednesday. All day. You got a hangover? Oh, I tell you what, put a quid in that lottery syndicate, I'll pay you back later. Oh! Did Rose tell you about the nail polish?"

"Yeah, um, we was just calling 'cause we might be late home."

Jackie frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

"No! We're fine! Top of the world!" Jackie hears Rose laugh. "Love ya mum!"

"Love you too sweethearts." Jackie puts the phone down, wondering why her daughters were calling her up in the middle in the day.

* * *

Imogen lowers the mobile, stunned.

"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." The Doctor joked but Rose and Imogen frowned.

"That was 5 billion years ago. So... she's dead now." Rose says slowly, realizing. "Five billion years later, our mum's dead."

The Doctor rolls his eyes. "Bundle of laughs, you two are."

The ship shudders.

The Doctor looks rather pleased and curious. "That's not supposed to happen..."

* * *

The Steward is speaking to control. "Well, what was it? I'm just getting green lights at this end." He activates the loudspeaker. "Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you." As soon as it is switched off again, he speaks angrily to control again. "The whole place shook! I felt it! I've hosted all sorts of events on platforms 1, 3, 6 and 15 and I've never felt the slightest tremor. I warn you, if this lot decide to sue... I'm going to scan the infrastructure." He presses a few buttons. "What's that?"

A spider scurries down the wall behind him.

"Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings..." the computer beeps. "I have no idea! Well, they're small, and the scan says they're metal..." the computer beeps – frustrated. "I don't know what they look like!"

Suddenly, he spots the spider, which is now pottering around on his desk next to his mug.

"Although, I imagine they might look rather like that... you're not on the guest list... how did you get on board...?"

The spider looks at him almost mockingly and presses a yellow button on the control panel. The computerized woman's voice booms out again.

"Sunfilter deactivated."

"No. No!" the steward panics.

"Sunfilter descending."

The sunfilter does indeed, descend.

The Steward becomes frantic. "No! Sunfilter, up! No, no, no!" He fumbles frantically with the buttons on the control panels, but too late. "Sunfilter up! Sunfilter up!"

Blinding light engulfs the steward.

"Sunfilter descending."

The Steward screams. Outside the room, the spider escapes through an air vent to safety.

* * *

**That was chapter 5! Hoped you guys enjoyed it!  
**


	6. End of the Earth

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

The guests are completely oblivious to the commotion, chatting to each other. The Moxx of Balhoon is talking to the Face of Bo.

"...this is the Bad Wolf scenario..."

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose enter.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." He was fiddling with a control panel next to the door when Jabe approaches them. "What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines - they pitched up about 30 hertz, is that dodgy or what?"

Jabe tilted her head to the side. "It's the sound of metal, it doesn't make any sense to me."

The Doctor pressed his lips together. "Where's the engine room?"

Jabe shrugged. "I don't know... but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I could show you. And..." she gestured to Imogen first, then Rose. "Your wife and daughter."

"She's not my wife." The Doctor stepped in. "And she's not my daughter."

Jabe looked the women over. "Partners?"

"No." The Doctor shook his head.

"Concubines?" Jabe guessed.

"Nope."

Jabe looks at their clothing. "Prostitutes?"

Imogen became very insulted. "Now you listen here, tree. I don't care what you say about me, but if you ever call my sister a prostitute, I'll rip your damn tongue out. And whatever I am, it must be invisible, do you mind?" She glared at Jabe.

Rose quickly went in between them. "Tell you what, you two go and pollinate, we'll just going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson." She pointed over to Cassandra.

Rose dragged Imogen over to Cassandra.

"Don't start a fight." The Doctor called out to the girls before he proffers arm to Jabe. "I'm all yours."

Rose stopped walking to watch them leave. "And I want you home by midnight!"

The Doctor grins back at her.

The computer voice went off again. "Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes."

* * *

Inside the Internal maintenance corridor, before the Doctor and Jabe enter, several spiders scurry out of view.

"Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a captain or what?" The Doctor asked Jabe.

"There's just the steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal man."

"You mean the computer? But who controls that?"

"The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another."

The Doctor is silent for a moment. "But there's no one from the corporation on board."

"They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong."

"Unsinkable?"

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate."

"You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable... I ended up clinging to an iceberg, it wasn't half cold." He stops for a moment. "So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?"

"I'm afraid not."

The Doctor grinned. "Fantastic." He starts walking again.

"I don't understand. In what way is THAT fantastic?"

Behind them, a spider creeps out of its hiding place.

* * *

Back at the Manchester suite, Rose and Imogen are talking to Cassandra. They are looking out of a window at the sun and down at the Earth.

"Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy. Down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice." She sighed. "I had such fun."

Imogen frowned. "What happened to everyone else? The Human Race - where did it go?"

"They say Mankind has touched every star in the sky."

"So, you're NOT the last human." Rose tilted her head to the side.

"I am the last PURE human. The others... mingled." Cassandra's tone turned to disgust. "Oh, they call themselves 'New Humans' and 'Proto-humans' and 'Digi-humans' even 'Human-ish' but you know what I call them?" she lowers her voice to a whisper. "Mongrels."

Imogen nodded. "Right. And you stayed behind."

"I kept myself pure."

"How many operations have you had?" Rose asked, looking at her paper thin shape.

"708. Next week, it's 709, I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You two could be flatter. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out." He scanned the girls.

Imogen scrunched her nose. "I'd rather die." Rose nodded in agreement.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it doesn't hurt—"

Imogen cut her off, still felling the annoyance of Jabe calling her and her sister prostitutes. "No, I mean it. I'd rather die. It's better to die than live like you - a bitchy trampoline."

Rose gripped her sister's arm, knowing how her temper was getting to her.

"Oh well. What do you know." Cassandra brushed her off.

"I was born on that planet. And so was my mum, my sister, and so was my dad and that makes us officially the last human being in this room, 'cause you're not human." Imogen glared at Cassandra. "You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Poorly applied lipstick and skin. Nice talking." She walked off while dragging Rose with her. The Adherents of the Repeated Meme watch them leave through the sliding doors.

* * *

Back inside the maintenance corridor, the Doctor and Jabe are still making their way down the corridor, the low ceiling forcing them to stoop slightly.

"So, tell me, Jabe. What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?"

Jabe bowed her head in respect. "Respect for the Earth."

The Doctor snorted softly. "Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions."

Jabe blushed at having been seen through. "Well... perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions."

"In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."

"All the same. You respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below. And I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest." She smiled.

The Doctor looks impressed. He then points to a control panel. "Excuse me." He gets out his sonic screwdriver and starts poking the screen with it.

Jabe thought this was a perfect time to question him. "And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two... perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left..." she gets no answer from the Doctor. "I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species - refused to admit your existence."

The Doctor pretends to be concentrating on the scan, but a flicker of emotion passes across his face. She knew what he was.

Jabe continued. "And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right." The Doctor stops scanning. Deep sadness is reflected in his eyes. Jabe's tone is hushed, awed. "I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just want to say... how sorry I am." Jabe puts a comforting hand on his arm.

The Doctor's eyes are filled with tears. He places his hand over hers, and a tear falls down his cheek. He quickly finishes the scan and he and Jabe go through a door.

Inside the ventilation chamber, the Doctor and Jabe find themselves in the ventilation chamber. There were huge fans circulating in there.

The Doctor looks down at Jabe. "Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?"

* * *

The Tyler sisters walk alone down a corridor.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme are coming from the other end. They smile at them, but the front one strikes Rose to the ground where she lies unconscious.

Imogen opens her mouth to scream when she too is hit hard, knocking her unconscious. They drag the blondes from view.

* * *

Back inside the ventilation chamber, the Doctor looks around. "Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of, nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it 'retro'." He scans another control panel with his sonic screwdriver. "Gotcha."

The panel falls off and a spider scuttles out, scurries across the floor, and up the wall. The Doctor and Jabe watch it.

"What the hell's that?"

"Is it part of the 'retro'?" Jabe asked confused.

"I don't think so. Hold on." He points the screwdriver at the spider. However, Jabe fires something up at the spider, disabling it. It comes falling into the Doctor's hand. "Hey! Nice liana!"

Jabe blushes. "Thank you! We're not supposed to show them in public."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." The Doctor swore as he grinned. He turns his attention to the spider. "Now then. Who's been bringing the pets on board?"

"What does it do?"

"Sabotage."

"Earth Death in 10 minutes." The computer announced.

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on." They hurry from the chamber.

* * *

Inside the Manchester suite, the aliens mill about.

"The planet's end. Come gather! Come gather!" Cassandra bid everyone. "Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad."

Britney Spears' Toxic suddenly blasts out of the enormous 'iPod'.

* * *

The Doctor and Jabe hurry along the corridor outside the Steward's office - the corridor is filled with smoke and the staff are coughing squeaky little coughs.

"Come on! Get back!" The Doctor moves his sonic screwdriver over another control panel.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising." The computer announced.

Jabe became concerned. "Was the Steward in there?!"

"You can smell him. Hold on - there's another sun filter program to descend."

* * *

'Toxic' plays loudly as Imogen wakes up, rubbing her head. "What the hell?" Imogen suddenly perked up. "Rose!" she turned to her side to see Rose laying on her chest, still unconscious. She crawled over to Rose. "Rose, wake up!" she placed her hand under Rose's nose to see if she was still breathing, and relief filled her when Rose was breathing softly.

Rose groaned. "Ow." She opened her eyes to see her older sister looking down at her. "What happened?"

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending." The computer announced.

Imogen looks up in alarm as the Sunfilter descends. Rose sits up, now alert. They run to the door and knock on it frantically.

"Let us out!" the girls screamed. "Somebody!"

"Sunfilter descending." The computer repeated, scaring the girls even more.

* * *

The Doctor runs along the corridor outside viewing gallery.

The Doctor arrives outside the door to attempt to make the Sunfilter rise again. "Anyone in there?"

The girls are frantically banging on the door. "Let us out!" they cry.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, well, it would be you."

Imogen banged on the door harder. "Open the door!"

"Hold on!" the Doctor called out. "Give us two ticks!"

The whole room is smoking.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending." The computer kept repeating.

The display on the control panel says 'Sunfilter Rising'. The Doctor looks up expectantly.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

The Doctor looks pleased with himself as the girls sigh with relief.

"Sunfilter rising... Sunfilter descending." The computer's words caused Imogen to curse.

The Doctor groan. "This is just what we need. The computer's getting clever."

"Will you stop mucking about!" Rose screamed.

"I'm not mucking about, it's fighting back!"

"Open the door!" the girls screamed.

"Hang on!" The Doctor called out to them.

Imogen saw the sunlight was about to hit them. She grabbed Rose and run down the stairs, then flattens herself to the floor over Rose, to protect her. "The locks melted!"

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending."

The Doctor jabs his sonic screwdriver right inside the wires.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

Panting, Rose and Imogen run back to the door.

The Doctor tries to open it but cannot. "The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!"

Imogen huffs as she changes her tone to a terrified sort of sarcasm. "Where're are we gonna go?! Ipswich?!"

"Earth Death in 5 minutes."

* * *

In the Manchester suite, Jabe was looking at her computer. "The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of platform one."

Cassandra gave a small frown. "How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me." She ordered her men.

The Doctor takes the destabilized spider out of Jabe's hand.

"Summon the Steward!" The Moxx of Balhoon called out, looking for someone with authority in the platform.

"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Jabe informed everyone.

There is a general gasp of shock.

"Who killed him?" The Moxx of Balhoon asked.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Bo! He invited us!" Cassandra screeched. The Face of Bo shakes his head. "Talk to the face! Talk to the face!"

"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought a little pet on board." The Doctor showed them the spider. "Let's send him back to Master." He places the spider down on the floor. The spider scuttles along to Cassandra and looks up at her. Cassandra looks shifty for a moment, but the spider moves on to the feet of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

Cassandra gasps. "The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!"

The Doctor held back the urge to roll his eyes. "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." The Adherents of the Repeated Meme tries to strike him, but he catches its arm and rips it off. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea." He rips a wire out of the arm and all of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme crumple into a bundle of black cloaks. Everyone gasps and Cassandra rolls her eyes. "Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" he nudges spider with his foot. "Go home!"

The spider ambles back over to Cassandra.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed." The Doctor raises his eyebrows. "At arms!" The two bodyguards with canisters on either side of her raise their canisters.

THE DOCTOR held up his hands mockingly. "What are you going to do, moisturize me?"

"With acid. Oh, too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face." Cassandra blinked her eyes.

The Doctor scoffed. "Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?"

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money." The Doctor mumbles.

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this?" Cassandra motioned to her form with her eyes. "Flatness costs a fortune. I am The Last Human, Doctor. Me. Not those freaky little kids of yours.

"Arrest her!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried out.

"Oh, shut it, pixie." Cassandra spat. "I've still got my final option."

"Earth Death in 3 minutes." The computer's voice echoed around the room.

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn.'"

"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe glared at her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but... I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders - activate." There were a series of explosions around the ship. "Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She giggled. "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings..." She and her bodyguards teleport out.

"Heat levels rising." The computer announced.

"Reset the computer!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried out.

"Only the Steward would know how." Jabe felt fear crawl in her throat.

"No." the Doctor called out. "We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on." They leave the room. He calls back the crowd over his shoulder. "You lot - just chill!"

"Earth Death in 2 minutes. Earth Death in 2 minutes."

* * *

Jabe and the Doctor are running back through the maintenance corridor.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels - critical." The computer repeated.

The Doctor and Jabe reach the ventilation chamber.

"Oh. And guess where the switch is." The switch is located at the other side of the enormous fans.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising."

The Doctor pulls a lever down and the fans slow down.

"External temperature - 5 thousand degrees."

As soon as the Doctor lets go of the lever, the fans start to speed up again. As the Doctor looks hopelessly at the fans, Jabe pulls the lever down again and holds it there.

"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place."

Jabe nodded. "I know."

"Jabe, you're made of wood." He reminded her. The heat levels in the place could set her on fire.

"Then stop wasting time. Time Lord."

He grins at her and runs back to the fans.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising."

* * *

Everyone screamed as the glass begins to crack in the Manchester suite.

"Heat levels - hazardous."

"We're going to die!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried out in terror.

* * *

"Heat levels - hazardous."

The Doctor dodges the first fan and runs underneath it. He looks anxiously up at the next one.

* * *

The glass begins to crack, making Imogen and Rose cower against the wall, holding each other.

"Shields malfunctioning. Shields malfunctioning." The computer echoed.

Rays of sun blast in through the cracks, burning holes in the parts of the metal wall they hit. They scream as they feel the heat on their skin, even though the light hadn't touched them yet.

* * *

The Doctor is still standing before the second fan. He looks back at Jabe who is sweating and breathing heavily.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels - critical."

The Doctor dodges under the second fan.

* * *

The glass cracks further, engulfing the Moxx of Balhoon in light. He cries out in pain as everyone tries to back away from the light.

* * *

The sunrays hit the wall on either side of Rose and Imogen. Imogen held onto her sister tight, as did Rose.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising."

* * *

As the Doctor stands before the third fan. Jabe starts shaking violently. Suddenly, she gasps as one of her hands catches fire. She screams, making the Doctor looks back, shocked. Now there is no one to hold the lever down, the fans circulate so fast that they can hardly be seen, in order to cool the ship down. It is impossible for the Doctor to get through.

* * *

The walls around Rose and Imogen are rapidly burning.

"I love you." Imogen whispered as she cried.

"I love you too." Rose held onto her sister even tighter. She didn't think she would die this way, that they would both die this way.

* * *

"Planet explodes in 10... 9..."

The Doctor closes his eyes. All grows quiet.

"8... 7... 6... 5... 4..."

The Doctor, still with his eyes closed, steps calmly though the fan. When at the other side, he opens his eyes and dashes to the switch, pulling it down. "Raise shields!"

* * *

The girls have their eyes closed and shaking.

"...1"

They hold their breath, expecting death.

* * *

The force fields around the ships are reset just as the planet is engulfed in fire. It explodes, leaving the ship completely unharmed.

* * *

"Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair."

The glass is automatically repaired. Imogen and Rose open their eyes, panting heavily from the heat and fear.

* * *

The Doctor walks back through the fans. He pauses for a moment to look sadly at the charred and smoking remains of Jabe. _'Another one…'_ he thought.

* * *

Imogen and Rose walk back into the observation gallery, where all the aliens are sitting around, wounded or dead.

The Doctor walks briskly in a few moments later. He glances at the blondes but does not pause to talk to them. Instead he goes straight to Jabe's companions, mutters a few words to them and then places his hands on their shoulders, leaving them to grieve.

He then walks back near the girls.

Imogen looked him over as she held onto Rose. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one - teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two - this feed must be hidden nearby." He strides over to the ostrich egg, breaks it open and the teleportation feed falls out. He picks it up. "Idea number three - if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He twists the feed.

Cassandra appears before them, apparently in the middle of gloating. "Ah, you should have seen their little alien faces." She pauses as she notices her new surroundings. "Oh."

"The Last Human." The Doctor spat.

Cassandra became flustered. "So. You passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er... the human club."

The Doctor glared at her. "People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them."

"That depends on your definition of 'people'. And that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, Doctor! And watch me smile, and cry, and flutter..."

"And creak?" The Doctor cut her off.

"And what?"

"Creak! You're creaking."

Cassandra's skin is tightening. Her eyes are becoming bloodshot and she is getting whiter and whiter. She starts to panic. "What? Ah! Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" She becomes covered in red blotches.

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor's low tone sent shivers down people's spines.

Cassandra's tone became terrified, pathetic. "Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, Doctor!"

Rose is shaken from everything that has happened as she stays in her sister's arms. "Help her."

The Doctor doesn't move. "Everything has its time and everything dies."

Cassandra starts to shrivel up. "I'm... too... young!" She explodes.

The Doctor looks completely cold and not remotely fazed. He leaves the room.

* * *

"Shuttles 4 and 6 departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance."

The Manchester Suite is now completely empty apart from Rose and Imogen, who are standing at the window watching the Earth burn with a very vulnerable and sad look on their faces, oblivious to the Doctor watching them from the doorway. He sees the way Rose clings to her sister's arm as they watch, and the slight burns on Imogen's back from when she used her body to protect Rose from the sun.

They were just kids…

Rocks fly past the window. They turn around when they hear the Doctor's footsteps as he comes to stand beside them.

Rose looks up at him tearfully. "The end of the Earth. It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go." the Doctor looks down at her. "All those years... all that history and no one was even looking. It's just..."

The Doctor held his hands out to them. "Come with me."

Imogen scans his face, wanting to see if there was any ill intent, but she saw none. She took it and Rose took his other hand. They walk away together.

* * *

Back in 2005, the girls step out of the TARDIS. They look around at the crowds, seeing them in a new light.

The Doctor stands beside them.

"Big issue!" A seller called out.

"You think it'll last forever. People, and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." they all look at the sky as the Doctor spoke. After a moment, he continues. "My planet's gone." He whispers.

The girls turn to look at him.

This is the first time he's mentioned his home.

"It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before its time."

Imogen frowned. "What happened?"

"There was a war. And we lost."

"A war with who?" Rose asked. He doesn't answer, seemingly lost in thought. "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else."

Imogen grabs his hand, squeezing it. "We're not time lords, but we're here." She smiles at him.

"You've seen how dangerous it is, how dangerous it is for Rose." He sees Imogen look at Rose. "Do you want to go home?"

Rose looks at him for a few seconds. "I don't know. I want..." she sniffs the air. "Oh! Can you smell chips?"

The Doctor laughs. "Yeah. Yeah!"

Imogen moaned, her stomach rumbling. "I want chips."

"Same."

"Me too." The Doctor joined in with a smile.

"Right then," Rose clapped her hands. "Before you get us back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay."

The Doctor shook her pockets. "No money."

Rose scoffs. "What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on Immy."

"What? Why me?" Imogen crossed her arms over her chest.

"'Cause you're the one that's more reasonable with money, you always make sure you have a bit on ya, don't lie to me." Rose pointed at her sister, who rolled her green eyes.

The Doctor smiles at them, delighted that they were getting back to normal and not crying.

"Fine." Imogen threw her hands up. "Come on, we've only got five billion years before the shops close..." she joked.

They walk down the street together laughing.

* * *

**That was chapter 6! Did you guys like it?**


	7. Blue Gas

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**gogo2625: **_here it is!_

* * *

**The outfit Imogen wears in this episode will be on the profile.**

* * *

Inside the Chapel of Rest, Mr. Sneed crosses a room where a woman lies dead in her coffin and a man stands over her. The man's name is Redpath.

Sneed lights a gas lamp, then walks to the man's side. "Sneed and Company offer their sincerest condolences, sir. In this most trying hour."

Redpath stared down at the body of his grandmother. "Grandmamma had a good innings, Mr. Sneed. She was so full of life. I can't believe she's gone."

"Not gone, Mr. Redpath, sir. Merely sleeping."

A short silence came between them when Redpath spoke. "May I have a moment?"

Sneed nodded. "Yes, of course. I shall be in the next room, should you require anything." He leaves Redpath alone with his Grandmother.

Redpath, with his head bowed in grief, does not notice the gas enter her dead body and her eyes snap open. She suddenly grabs Redpath by the neck and throttles him.

Mr. Sneed bursts back into the room upon hearing the commotion. "Oh, no."

The old woman twists her grandson's neck around and he falls to the floor.

Sneed tries to wrestle the lid back on the coffin. "Gwyneth!" he calls out as he struggles with the lid. "Get down here now! We've got another one!"

He is not strong enough to get the lid back on the coffin and the old woman kicks the side off.

Mrs. Pearce, the old woman, walks from the house into the street, wailing.

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, it was mayhem. The whole ship was shaking and an alarm is going off.

"Hold that one down!" the Doctor ordered the girls.

"We are!" Imogen yelled as she held down her lever.

Rose shook her head as the shaking intensified. "It's not going to work!"

"Oi! I promised you two a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future - let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?"

"What happened in 1860?" Rose wondered.

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!"

The TARDIS screeches through the time vortex as the Doctor pulled a lever.

* * *

Mr. Sneed is dabbing at his forehead as he sat in his kitchen. "Gwyneth! Where are you, girl? Gwyneth!" A young woman with dark hair, Gwyneth, appears. "Where've you been? I was shouting!"

"I've been in the stables, sir, bringing the ice for old Sampson."

"Well, get back in there and harness him up."

Gwyneth frowned in confusion. "Whatever for, sir?"

"The stiffs are getting lively again. Mr. Redpath's grandmother - she's up and on her feet and out there somewhere, on the streets! We've got to find her!"

Gwyneth gaped at Mr. Sneed. "Mr. Sneed, for shame! How many more times? It's ungodly!"

"Don't look at me like it's my fault! Now come on, hurry up! She was 86. She can't have got far." He moved passed her.

"What about Mr. Redpath? Did you deal with him?"

Sneed paused and turned around. He licked his lips. "No. She did."

Gwyneth gasped. "That's awful, sir. I know it's not my place, and please - forgive me for talking out of turn, sir. But this is getting beyond, now." Sneed nods in agreement. "Something terrible is happening in this house, and we've got to get help."

"And we will! As soon as we get that dead old woman locked up and safe and sound. Now stop prevaricating girl, get the hearse ready. We're going body snatching."

* * *

The TARDIS materializes on a deserted street as snow is falling.

The controls are steaming and the trio are lying on the floor laughing.

"Blimey!" Rose laughed as the Doctor rose from his spot.

He bent down and helped the sisters up. "You're telling me! Are you alright?" he looked them over.

Imogen waved him off with a small wave and a laugh. "Yeah. I think so! Nothing broken..." she patted her body.

"Did we make it? Where are we?" Rose was bouncing as she asked the Doctor, who was looking at the screen.

"I did it! Give the man a medal. Earth - Naples - December 24th, 1860." He grinned as he crossed his arms.

Imogen and Rose stared at him in shock.

"That's so weird... it's Christmas." Rose whispered.

The Doctor gestured towards the door, daring them to see what awaited them outside of them. "All yours."

Imogen held up a hand. "But, it's like... think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once. Just once, and it's gone. It's finished. It'll never happen again. Except for you." She studied him intently. "You can go back and see days that are dead and gone and a hundred thousand sunsets ago... no wonder you never stay still..." she gave a small smile at the adventures.

The Doctor shrugged, giving a small smile back. "Not a bad life."

"Better with three." Rose held up 3 fingers.

They grinned at each other for a few moments until Rose slaps his bum and dashes towards the door with Imogen at her heels.

"Come on then!" The eldest called back to the Doctor.

"Oi, oi, oi! Where do you think you're going?!" he yelled to them.

"1860!" the blondes called back.

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarellas!" he stopped them. "There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, it's the fifth door on your left. Hurry up!

Rose rushes off to get changed while dragging Imogen by the hand, mumbling to themselves the directions he gave them.

The Doctor grins after them, shaking his head slightly. He was glad to see the sisters happy again after seeing the end of the Earth as they nearly died, but after some chips and healing their burns, they were off on another adventure.

* * *

Sneed and Gwyneth are driving through the streets looking for the old woman.

"Not a sign. Where is she?"

"She's vanished into the ether sir, where can she be?"

Sneed stops the hearse and looks at Gwyneth. "You tell me, girl."

Gwyneth frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sneed gave her a look. "Gwyneth, you know full well."

"No, sir. I can't." she shook her head.

"Use the sight."

"It's not right, sir."

"Find the old lady. Or you're dismissed." He hissed. Gwyneth looked anxious. "Now, look inside, girl. Look deep. Where is she?"

Gwyneth closes her eyes. "She's lost, sir. She's so alone. Oh, my lord. So many strange things in her head."

"But where?"

"She's excited. About tonight. Before she passed on, she was going to see him."

"Who's 'him'?"

"A great man. All the way from London. The great, great man."

* * *

There is a knocking at a door. An old man - Charles Dickens is kneading his forehead inside the room.

"Mr. Dickens!" the stage manager called out. "Mr. Dickens! Excuse me, sir, Mr. Dickens - this is your call." Mr. Dickens does not respond. The stage manager comes into the room. "Are you quite well, sir?"

Dickens snaps out of it. "Splendid, splendid. Sorry."

"Time you were on, Sir."

"Absolutely. I was just - brooding." The stage manager throws him questioning look. "Christmas Eve. Not the best of times to be alone."

"Did no one travel with you, sir? An old lady wife waiting out front?"

Dickens looks down. "I'm afraid not."

The stage manager laughs. "You can have mine if you want."

"Oh, I wouldn't dare. I've been rather - let's say - clumsy, with family matters. By God, I'm too old to cause any more trouble."

"You speak as though it's all over, sir!"

"Oh, no, it's never over. On and on I go. The same old show." They look at the poster announcing his show. "I'm like a ghost, condemned to repeat myself..." he stands. "... For all eternity."

"It's never too late, sir. You could always think up some new turns."

"No, I can't. Even my imagination grows stale." Dickens takes long swig of drink. "I'm an old man. Perhaps I've thought everything I'll ever think. Still! The lure of the lime-light! As potent as a pipe what, eh?" The stage manager helps him change his jacket. "On with the show."

* * *

In the TARDIS, the Doctor is doing some more unnecessary repair work. Rose swans in and he turns off his sonic screwdriver and looks at her in surprise.

"Blimey!"

"Don't laugh!" Rose pointed a finger at him while laughing. "Wait until you see Immy, she was having a bit of difficulties with the corset."

"You look lovely!"

Rose stops laughing and smiles instead.

"Alright, no one laugh at me okay?" Imogen's voice echoed throughout the TARDIS. "I've had to do this myself with Rose having a laugh at me."

Rose bit her lip remembering her sister's face as she tried to put her outfit on.

Imogen stepped out to the console room and the Doctor nearly dropped his sonic screwdriver.

Imogen came out wearing an off-the shoulder gown.

The silver bustier had a black taffeta trained skirt and black velvet overskirt. The fitted and boned bustier was made of ribbon decorated taffeta with hook and eye closure in the back. Lovely black bobbinette lace created the off-the shoulder sleeves and made long sashes which hugged her hips and tied in the back in a knot, with trailing fringe trimmed bobbinette lace sashes. She wore black long runched gloves, her necklace tucked into her cleavage of her dress, and diamond silver pure round drop earrings.

Imogen was fixing her half up half down curled hair when she came in.

"You look beautiful." There is a pause as Imogen blushed, Rose clenched her jaw a bit, and the Doctor looked away awkwardly. "...considering." He turns on his screwdriver again.

Imogen frowned. "Considering what?"

"That you two are human!" he pointed the sonic between the girls.

Rose crossed her arms amused. "I THINK that's a compliment." She told her sister. "Aren't you going to change?" she asked the Doctor.

"I've changed my jumper! Come on!" He jumps out of the space beneath the controls.

"You, stay there! You've done this before. This is mine!" Rose hurries towards the door and opens it as Imogen wrapped her dark black velvet dress cape over her shoulders.

Rose looks out onto the 1860 street. She makes one footprint in the untouched snow then withdraws her foot again. Then she steps out altogether. The Doctor and Imogen follow her.

"Ready for this?" The Doctor asked the girls. They smile and he offers them his arms. They both take it. "Here we go. History!" They walk off together.

* * *

The curtains open for Dickens' show and the audience applaud.

The dead old woman is sitting slap bang in the middle of them.

* * *

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose walk down the street, observing everything – Rose and Imogen in amazement, and the Doctor with his usual grin on his face.

He walks in another direction and the women follow. There are carol singers in the background as the snow continues to lightly fall.

* * *

Sneed and Gwyneth arrive at the theatre.

"She's in there, sir, I'm certain of it." Gwyneth pointed to the theatre.

They alight from the hearse.

Not far away, the Doctor is buying a newspaper.

He unfolds it and scans it. "I got the flight a bit wrong."

"I don't care." Rose laughs lightly as she and Imogen keep looking around in wonderment.

"It's not 1860, it's 1869."

Imogen jumped up and down in her spot. "I don't care!"

"And it's not Naples." The Doctor read from the paper.

"We don't care." Rose squeezed her sister's arm with a smile as they looked around some more.

"It's Cardiff."

The girls pause. "Right..." Imogen presses her lips together as Rose frowns a bit.

* * *

Dickens is talking to the rapt audience. "Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing particular about the knocker on the door of this house. But let any man explain to me if he can, how it happened, that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without it's undergoing any intermediate process of change, not a knocker - but Marley's face." The audience gasp. "Marley's face! It looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look. It looked like..."

Gas is escaping from the old woman.

Dickens, seeing as how he is the only one facing the audience, is the only one to notice. "Oh, my lord! It looked... like that!" He points a trembling finger at the old woman. "What phantasmagoria is this?"

The woman has Rose in her seat. She let out a long, loud wail.

The audience scream and trample each other in their hurry to get away.

* * *

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose hear the screaming.

The Doctor grins. "That's more like it!" He tosses the newspaper over his shoulder and runs in the direction of the screaming. Rose and Imogen follow after him.

* * *

Dickens is desperately trying to get his audience to sit down again. "Stay in your seats, I beg you. It is a lantern show, its trickery."

Sneed and Gwyneth are struggling against the crowds to enter.

"There she is, sir!" Gwyneth yells to Sneed as she struggles.

"I can see that!" The gas zooms around the room. "The whole bloomin' world can see that!"

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose enter. They watch the gas zoom around.

"Fantastic." The Doctor gasps.

"What is that?" Imogen asks as she watched the gas zoom around.

The last of the gas leaves the old woman's mouth and she slumps back in the chair, just a dead body once more.

"I don't know, but let's find out." The Doctor approaches Mr. Dickens. "Did you see where it came from?"

"Ah. The wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!" Dickens waves his finger at the Doctor, who looks slightly taken aback.

"Oi! Leave her alone!" Rose yelled as Sneed and Gwyneth are making off with the old woman's body. "Doctor, I'll get 'em!"

"Rose, be careful!" Imogen yells after her.

The Doctor jumps onto stage. "Did it say anything? Could it speak? I'm The Doctor, by the way."

"Doctor? You look more like a navy."

The Doctor puffed his cheeks indignantly as he turned to Imogen. "What's WRONG with this jumper?"

Imogen gave a small grin and shrugs.

* * *

Gwyneth and Sneed have successfully loaded the body into the back of the hearse.

Rose catches up with them. "What're you doing?!"

Gwyneth spun around. "Oh, it's such a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself, me and the master will deal with it." She tries to bar Rose from seeing inside the hearse. "The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary."

Rose pushes Gwyneth aside and feels the old woman's forehead. "She's cold... she's dead! My God, what did you do to her?"

Sneed approaches her silently from behind and clamps a tissue full of a drug, probably chloroform, to her mouth. She struggles for a few seconds and then goes limp.

Gwyneth is shocked at Sneed's actions. "What did you do that for?"

"She's seen too much. Get her in the hearse!"

Gwyneth bends down to pick up Rose's legs.

* * *

The blue gas is still zooming around inside. It dives into one of the gas lamps and disappears.

"Gas! It's made of gas!"

"Yes, I saw that." Imogen stared open mouthed at the sight.

She jumped as the Doctor grabbed her hand as he ran by, dragging her to the door.

By the time the Doctor and Imogen came down the steps of the theatre, Gwyneth has just finished pushing Rose's head out of sight into the hearse. She slams the door shut.

Imogen spots the blonde hair in the hearse and her insides froze. "Rose!" she called out as she ran towards the hearse.

Dickens runs out of the theatre to see The Doctor and Imogen running toward the hearse. "You're not escaping me, sir! What do you know about that hobgoblin, hm?" The hearse drives away. The Doctor stares after it as Imogen freezes up at the sight of her sister being taken away from her. "Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?"

The Doctor turns to Dickens. "Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks." He moves to reach for Imogen when he stumbles back from the punch to his jaw from the very angry Imogen. "What the hell-"

"You bring her back right now!" Imogen yelled, causing Dickens to step back a bit, he didn't want a hit from the mad woman.

The Doctor held her shoulders. "We'll find a way." He looks around until he spots a coach and runs towards it, shouting to the driver. "Oi, you! Follow that hearse!" He jumps into the coach after helping Imogen in.

"You can't do that, sir! Ma'am!" Dickens ran after them toward the coach.

The Doctor pops his head out. "Why not?"

"Why not?!" Dickens puffed his cheeks. "I'll give you a very good reason why not! This is my coach!"

"Well, get in then!" The Doctor pulled Dickens in then turned his head to the driver. "Move!"

The coach rumbles off.

"Everything in order, Mr. Dickens?" The driver asks as he heard the commotion.

"No! It is not!"

Imogen stared wide eyed at Dickens. "What did he say?" she asked the Doctor without looking at him.

"Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humour—"

"Dickens?" Imogen cut him off, her eyes shining a bit with awe.

Dickens stopped his ranting and nodded at the young woman. "Yes."

"Charles Dickens?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"THE Charles Dickens?"

"Shall I remove the gentleman and the lady, sir?" The driver asked as he heard the anger in his master's voice.

Imogen was nearly jumping up and down. "Charles Dickens! You're brilliant, you are! Completely 100% brilliant! I've read 'em all!"

The Doctor nodded as he listed off his books. "Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?"

"A Christmas Carol?" Dickens guessed.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, no, the one with the trains..."

Imogen rolled her eyes. "Are you talking about The Signal Man?"

The Doctor booped her nose. "Yes, that's it, terrifying!" Dickens looks pleased at the odd couple who enjoyed his stories. "The best short story ever written! You're a genius!"

"You want me to get rid of them, sir?"

Dickens shook his head at the driver. "Er, no, I think they can stay." Imogen threw him a smile.

The Doctor got comfortable. "Honestly, Charles - can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan."

"...what? A what?"

"Fan! Number One Fan, that's us." The Doctor pointed to Imogen and himself.

Dickens frowned in confusion. "How exactly are you a fan? In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it means 'Fanatic', devoted to. Mind you, I've gotta say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what was that about?! Was that just padding or what? I mean, its rubbish, that bit."

Dickens became disgruntled. "I thought you said you were my fan."

The Doctor shrugged. "Ah, well, if you can't take criticism... go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up." Imogen slapped his leg to remind him of Rose. "No, sorry, come on, faster!" he told the driver.

The driver urges the horses on.

"Who exactly IS in that hearse?" Dickens asks the couple.

"My sister." Imogen starts to play with the corner of her cape. "She's only nineteen."

"And it's my fault. She's in my care, and now she's in danger." The Doctor pressed his lips together.

Dickens nods. "Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver! Be swift! The chase is on!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Doctor and Imogen are delighted to hear that Dickens was willing to help them. "Thatta boy, Charlie!" The Doctor cheered.

"Nobody calls me Charlie."

"The ladies do." The Doctor winked at Dickens, as Imogen grinned.

Dickens blushes a bit. "How do you know that?"

"I told you - I'm your Number One—"

"Number One Fan, yes..." Dickens waves him off.

Imogen laughs lightly. "So, may I call you Charlie?"

"I must first know your name." Dickens smiles.

"Imogen." She nods her head to him.

"Ah, what a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." He lightly grabs her hand and places a kiss on her glove. "You may call me Charlie indeed."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the scene.

* * *

Gwyneth and Sneed have one end each of Rose.

Gwyneth feels Rose's pulse. "The poor girl's still alive, sir! What're we going to do with her?"

They settle her down on a table that is evidently used for dead bodies.

"I don't know!" Sneed panics. "I didn't plan any of this, did I. Isn't my fault if the dead won't stay dead."

"Then whose fault is it, sir? Why is this happening to us?"

They leave the room, shutting and locking Rose in. A gas lamp flickers.

"I did the Bishop a favour, once." Sneed remembers. "Made his nephew look like a cherub. Even though he'd been a fortnight in the weir. Perhaps he'll do us an exorcism on the cheap." There is a knock on the door. They both look up, alarmed. "Say I'm not in. Tell them we're closed. Just - just get rid of them." He orders Gwyneth.

* * *

Rose wakes up. She looks slightly out of sorts, and does not notice when the gas from the lamps fills the corpse of Redpath.

He sits up suddenly.

* * *

Dickens knocks on the door again and Gwyneth opens it. "I'm sorry, sir, we're closed."

"Nonsense! Since when did an undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master." Dickens demanded.

"He's not in, sir." She makes to shut the door, but Dickens forces it open again, his tone angry.

"Don't lie to me, child!"

"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Dickens, but the mater's indisposed." Behind her, a gas lamp flares up.

The Doctor noticed. "Having trouble with your gas?"

"What the Shakespeare is going on?" Dickens yells.

* * *

Rose suddenly notices the corpse behind her.

She jumps in alarm as he starts making zombie noises at her. "Are you all right? You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding." He climbs out of the coffin. "You are, you're kidding me, aren't ya?" He takes staggering steps towards her. "Okay, not kidding." She panics and runs to the door to try to open it.

* * *

Imogen puffs her cheeks and forces her way in, The Doctor following after her and presses his ear to the wall.

"You're not allowed inside, ma'am, sir!" Gwyneth cries out.

"There's something inside the walls." The Doctor mumbled as Imogen looked around for her sister.

* * *

Rose backs against the door.

The old woman's body rises from the other coffin and Rose gasps as she tries to press her body against the door some more, hoping that she can just phase through it somehow.

* * *

"The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas." The Doctor pointed to the lamp, catching everyone's attention.

"Yes, that's dandy and all, but where's Rose?!" Imogen nearly screams.

* * *

Rose lobs a vase at Redpath.

It does nothing but cause him to stumble slightly.

Rose rattles the handle frantically. "Let me out! Open the door!" she screams as she bangs on the door.

* * *

Gwyneth, Imogen, the Doctor and Dickens hear her.

Gwyneth closes her eyes in dismay, they've been caught.

"That's her." Imogen gasps and run towards the noise with the Doctor behind her, off to Rose's rescue. Dickens's follows.

* * *

"Please, let me out!" Rose panics more as both corpses are walking towards her.

* * *

Imogen and the Doctor charges past Sneed, who yells. "This is my house!" Dickens charges past him too. He shakes his finger at Gwyneth as she runs after them. "I told you!"

* * *

Rose is still hammering on the door as the corpses get closer and closer. "Let me out! Somebody, open the door! Open the door!"

Redpath clasps a hand over her mouth, muffling her scream.

At that moment, the Doctor kicks the door in. "I think this is MY dance." He releases Rose from Redpath's grip and throws her over to Imogen's arms, who holds her close.

"Oh, you're okay." Imogen coos over her.

Dickens shows up next to Imogen. "It's a prank? It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence."

The Doctor looked at the walking corpses. "No, we're not. The dead are walking." He grins down at the panting Rose and the protective Imogen. "Hi!"

"Hi!" she greets back and notices Dickens. "Who's your friend?"

"Charles Dickens."

"Oh. Okay." Rose accepted Imogen's answer.

The Doctor began to speak to the corpses. "My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?"

Redpath answered. "We're failing. Open the rift, we're dying. Trapped in this form - cannot sustain - help us." Both Redpath and his grandmother raise their heads to the ceiling.

The blue gas leaves them with a wailing sound and both corpses fall to the floor.

* * *

**That was chapter 7! I know it was a bit short compared to all the other ones :( forgive me.**

**Anyways, these have been taking a while to come out since I have 2 other stories I write (a walking dead and a true blood) and I also have school.**

**So I will try to get these out as fast as I can :)**

**Thank you for all you guys who read, alerted, and favorite it, it means a lot. :)**


	8. Gwyneth

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**Gogo2625: **_Here's another update!_

* * *

Gwyneth is pouring them all tea while Rose is having a go at Sneed with Imogen giving Sneed a glare.

"First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man."

The Doctor sniggers but stops once he sees Imogen glaring at him now.

"I won't be spoken to like this!" Sneed huffed.

Imogen stepped in front of Sneed. "You shut your mouth, you old pervert!" Sneed quickly shut his mouth.

Rose continued her ranting. "Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough - you swan off! And leave me to die! So come on - talk!" she hit Sneed in the leg in his cane.

Sneed hissed. "It's not my fault, it's this house! It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back. And then the stiffs—" Dickens looks mildly offended. "...the er, dear departed started getting restless."

Dickens snorts. "Tommyrot."

"You witnessed it!" Sneed pointed at Dickens. "Can't keep the beggars down, sir! They walk. And it's the queerest thing that they hang on to scraps..."

Gwyneth gives the Doctor his tea. "Two sugars, sir, just how you like it."

The Doctor looks at her retreating back curiously.

"One old fella who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service! Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir! Just as she planned." Sneed explained, trying to get Dickens to believe.

Dickens just waved him off as he stood. "Morbid fancy."

The Doctor took a sip from his tea. "Oh, Charles, you were there."

Dickens was still in denial as he glared at the Doctor. "I saw nothing but an illusion. "

The Doctor returned the glare. "If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up." Dickens is stunned at the tone the Doctor used. The Doctor turned to Sneed. "What about the gas?"

"That's new, sir, never seen anything like that."

"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through."

Imogen frowned in confusion. "What does that mean? What's the rift?"

The Doctor turned to the eldest blonde to explain. "A weak point in time and space. The connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time."

Sneed had a moment of revelation. "That's how I got the house so cheap." Dickens sneaks un-noticed from the room. "Stories going back generations. Echoes in the dark. Queer songs in the air and this feeling like a... shadow. Passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine."

Dickens, wandering the corridors alone, examines the gas lamps. "Impossible."

Dickens goes back into the room where Rose was locked up and takes the lid off Redpath's coffin, where Redpath is lying peacefully, his arms crossed across his chest.

He waves his hands in front of his face, shakes him a bit, and fumbles around underneath the coffin, all the time oblivious to the Doctor watching him with his arms folded in the doorway.

"Checking for strings?" the Doctor called out, making Dickens tense up a bit.

"Wires, perhaps? There must be some mechanism behind this fraud!"

The Doctor unfolds his arms and walks over to Dickens. "Oh, come on, Charles. All right. I shouldn't have told you to shut up." He placed a hand on Dickens' shoulder. "I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures."

Dickens shook his head. "I cannot accept that."

"And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things - they can slip inside and use it as a vehicle. Just like your driver and his coach."

"Stop it!" Dickens ordered the Doctor. "Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?"

"Not wrong. There's just more to learn."

"I've always railed against the fantasies. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, reveled in them - that's what they were. Illusions! The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices. Great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack o' lanterns. In which case - have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?"

* * *

Gwyneth is lighting another gas lamp when Rose and Imogen come in and starts wash and drying up.

"Please, Misses!" Gwyneth gasped. "You shouldn't be helping! It's not right!" she ran towards the girls but they waved her off.

"Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death." Rose tells her as Imogen hands her the dried off cups. "How much do you get paid?"

"Eight pound a year, miss." Gwyneth smiled and nodded at Rose.

Imogen frowned. "That much?"

Gwyneth didn't notice the frown on their faces. "I know. I would've been happy with six."

Rose was dumbfounded. "So, did you go to school or what?"

Gwyneth nodded. "Of course I did. What do you think I am? An urchin? I went every Sunday. Nice and proper."

Imogen tilted her head to the side. "What - once a week?"

Gwyneth nodded. "We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second."

Rose agreed. "Me too. Immy was right good at school." They both laugh as Imogen rolls her eyes.

"You would've been good if you would have studied more."

Gwyneth, as if this is completely outrageous, moved closer to the girls to tell them a secret. "Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own!"

Rose smiled. "I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen and Immy. And we used to go and look at boys!"

Gwyneth stops laughing at once and looks scandalized. "Well, I don't know much about that, miss." She turns back to the washing up.

Imogen touched Gwyneth's shoulder softly. "Come on, times haven't changed that much! I bet you've done the same."

"I don't think so, miss."

Rose looked to her sister then reached out for Gwyneth. "Gwyneth! You can tell us! Bet you've got your eye on someone."

Gwyneth stopped putting the dishes away and looked to the sisters, a light blush on her cheeks. "I suppose. There is one lad..." The sisters look extremely chuffed. "The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him!"

"Oh, I love smiles and hands." Imogen giggled.

Rose nodded with a smile. "Oh, I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum."

Again, Gwyneth looks shocked. "Well, I have never heard the like!"

The sisters just laugh. Then, Gwyneth laughs too.

Imogen stopped laughing and looked at Gwyneth. "Ask him out! Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start."

Rose agreed. "She's right, that's a good idea!"

Gwyneth looked the women over. "I swear, it is the strangest thing, misses. You've both got all the clothes and the breeding but you talk like some sort of wild things!"

They shrug and Rose answers. "Maybe we are. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mr. Sneed."

"Ah, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in. Because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve."

Imogen and rose frown as Imogen puts her hand on Gwyneth's arm. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Gwyneth, touched by their apologizes, nods. "Thank you, misses. But I'll be with them again, one day. Sitting with them in paradise. I should be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, misses." She turned to Imogen. "And your family."

Rose nods. "Maybe." She suddenly realizes what Gwyneth said. "Um, who told you he was dead?"

Imogen stared Gwyneth down. "And how did you know I was adopted?"

Gwyneth realizes what she has said and turns quickly back to the washing up. She speaks lightly. "I don't know, must've been the Doctor."

Imogen shakes her head. "The Doctor doesn't know that I'm adopted or that our father died years back."

Gwyneth turned to Rose, the person who has been thinking about him the most. "You've been thinking about him lately, more than ever."

Rose looked down so she couldn't see her sister stare at her. "I s'pose so... how do you know all this?"

"Mr. Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you misses."

They laugh as Imogen shakes her head. "No, no servants where we're from."

"And you've come such a long way."

Rose tenses up. "What makes you think so?"

Gwyneth moves closer to Imogen. "You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. Yet you aren't." she furrows her eyebrows in deep thought. "There is a sight behind a door. Red, beautiful reds, orange, and silver." She looked down at the chain around Imogen's neck, where the pictures of a world ran through her head. "Shining so bright, like the moon at night."

Imogen tilts her head as Gwyneth turns her head and stares at Rose intently. "All those people rushing about. Half naked, for shame. And the noise... and the metal boxes racing past... and the birds in the sky... they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People flying. And you - you've flown so far, further than anyone! The things you've seen... the darkness... the brightest star… the big bad wolf—" she staggers backwards, afraid. Those images were not soothing like the ones in Miss Imogen's mind. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, misses!"

Imogen tried to calm her. "S'alright..."

Gwyneth stared to talk fast. "I can't help it - ever since I was a little girl. My mum said I had the sight. She told me to hide it!"

"But it's getting stronger. More powerful, is that right?" Rose, Imogen, and Gwyneth both jump as they turn to see the Doctor standing in the doorway.

Gwyneth played with the rag in her hand. "All the time, sir. Every night. Voices in my head."

The Doctor nodded. "You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key."

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table wrappers, all sorts."

"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do."

Gwyneth frowned in confusion. "What to do where, sir?"

"We're going to have a séance."

* * *

They are all sat around a table as Gwyneth explain what they were doing. "This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists. Down in Mid Town. Come. We must all join hands."

"I can't take part in this." Dickens gets up.

"Humbug? Come on, open mind." The Doctor teased.

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I try to un-mask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing." Gwyneth looked down at Dickens' words.

"Now, don't antagonize her. I love a happy medium." The Doctor grinned.

Rose shook her head. "I can't believe you just said that."

Imogen looked up to Dickens. "Come on Charlie, we might need you." She gave him a small smile as Rose looked away, hiding hers. She knew her sister could pull a few tricks. The Doctor rose his eyebrow at the sight, seeing the way Dickens was looking at the curve of Imogen's bare shoulder at she looked up at him.

Dickens sits down again.

The Doctor nods. "Good man. Now, Gwyneth. Reach out."

"Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits?" Dickens rolls his eyes as Gwyneth continues. "Come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." She raises her eyes to the ceiling. A murmuring fills the room.

Rose squeezed her sister's hand. "Can you hear that?"

Dickens snapped at Rose. "Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly."

Imogen didn't take her eyes off Gwyneth. "Look at her."

Dickens turned his eyes back to Gwyneth, who started to speak away. "I feel them. I feel them!"

The gas creatures begin to fill the room.

"What're they saying?" Rose asks as they heard mumbling.

"They can't get through the rift." The Doctor answered, then turned to Gwyneth. "Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep. Allow them through."

"I can't!" Gwyneth's eyes were rolled back.

"Yes you can." The Doctor reassured her. "Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link."

Gwyneth looks almost pained. Then suddenly, she lowers her head and opens her eyes. "Yes."

Three gaseous figures appear behind her - the Gelth. Dickens' mouth drops open.

"Great God. Sprits from the other side!" Sneed gasps.

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor grinned att he shocked look on the girls' faces

"Pity us. Pity the Gelth." The Gelth pleaded. "There is so little time, help us."

"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked.

The Gelth in the front turned to the Doctor. "The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge."

"What for?"

"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction."

The Doctor felt that pang of guilt. "Why, what happened?"

"Once we had a physical form like you. But then the war came."

Dickens frowned. "War? What war?"

"The Time War." The Gelth answered. The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose glance at each other. "The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."

The Doctor nodded. "So that's why you need the corpses."

"We want to stand tall. To feel the sunlight. To live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste, give them to us!"

"But we can't!" Rose shook her head.

The Doctor turned to Rose. "Why not?"

Rose didn't know what to say. "It's not... I mean, it's not..."

"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." They stare at each other for a moment.

"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth!" They disappear and Gwyneth collapses forwards onto the table.

Rose and Imogen get up immediately and go to her. "Gwyneth!" the help her sit up, making sure she hadn't hurt herself.

Dickens was in a state of shock. "All true."

"Are you okay?" The sisters asked as they fussed over Gwyneth.

"It's all true." Dickens mumbles.

The Doctor is silent was he watches Imogen and Rose.

* * *

Imogen is mopping Gwyneth's forehead as she lies asleep on a couch with Rose very close by. Slowly, Gwyneth eyes open. She fidgets.

Imogen sooths her. "It's alright. You just sleep."

"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?"

The Doctor is leaning on a wall just behind Rose. "They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival."

Rose turns angrily to face the Doctor. "I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles."

The Doctor leans his head back and sighs. Rose turns back to Gwyneth and offers her a drink that she was holding. "Drink this."

Sneed looked to the Doctor. "Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?"

"Aliens."

"Like... foreigners, you mean?"

"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." The Doctor points skywards.

"Brecon?" Sneed guessed.

"Close. They've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the roads blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

Dickens lowered his glass of wine. "Which is why they need the girl."

Imogen hardened her glare at the men, looking like a mother bear protecting her cubs. "They're not having her."

"But she can help." The Doctor tried to reason. "Living on the rift, she's become part of it, she can open it up, make a bridge and let them through."

"Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers." Dickens' words slurred a bit.

"Good system. It might work." The Doctor nodded.

Rose gets up and walks over to the Doctor. "You can't let them run around inside dead people!"

"Why not? It's like recycling."

"Seriously though, you can't."

"Seriously though, I can."

"It's just... wrong! Those bodies were living people! We should respect them even in death!"

"Do you carry a donor card?"

Rose paused. "That's different, that's—"

"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home." Imogen rose from her seat near Gwyneth to pulled Rose away from the Doctor, giving him a heated glare for speaking to her like that. Rose is silent. He sees what his words had done and speaks in softer tones. "You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."

Imogen shook her head. "I don't care, they're not using her."

Gwyneth sat up. "Don't I get a say, miss?"

Everyone turns to look at her.

"Look." Rose started. "You don't understand what's going on."

Gwyneth smiles. "You would say that miss. Because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid."

Rose blushes. "That's not fair!"

"It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from. But here and now, I know my own mind. And the angels need me." Gwyneth turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, what do I have to do?"

"You don't HAVE to do anything." He didn't want to force the young girl.

"They've been singing to me since I was a child. Sent by my mum on a holy mission. So tell me."

The Doctor smiles at her. "We need to find the rift." He approaches Sneed and Dickens. "This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mr. Sneed. What's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?"

"That would be the Morgue."

Rose, still disgruntled, spoke up. "No chance you were gonna say 'gazebo', was there?" Everyone looks at her.

* * *

The key turns in the Morgue, and they all troupe in, led by the Doctor. "Talk about Bleak House."

Imogen spoke as she looked around. "The thing is, Doctor - the Gelth don't succeed. 'Cause we know they don't. We know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869."

"Time's in flux. It's changing every second. Your cozy little world could be rewritten like that." The Doctor clicks his fingers. "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing."

Dickens shivered a bit. "Doctor - I think the room is getting colder."

"Here they come." Rose says before the Gelth flood into the room.

Their leader positions itself in an archway. It has the voice of a child. "You have come to help! Praise the Doctor! Praise him!"

Rose stared down the leader. "Promise you won't hurt her!"

"Hurry! Please. So little time. Pity the Gelth."

The Doctor stepped forward. "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, alright?"

Gwyneth was in awe. "My angels. I can help them live."

The Doctor turned back to the Gelth. "Okay, where's the weak point?"

"Here, beneath the arch."

Gwyneth positions herself beneath the arch. "Beneath the arch."

Imogen rushes to her. "You don't have to do this."

Gwyneth places her hands on Imogen's cheeks. "My angels."

Imogen staggers backwards. Near the Doctor and Rose.

"Establish the bridge, reach out of the void, let us through!"

Gwyneth's face turned blank. "Yes. I can see you! I can see you! Come!"

"Bridgehead establishing."

"Come! Come to me! Come to this world, poor lost souls!" Gwyneth called to them.

"It is begun! The bridge is made!" Gwyneth's mouth opens and the Gelth pour out of it. "She has given herself to the Gelth!"

Dickens tries to avoid the Gelth flying around him. "There's rather a lot of them, eh?"

"The bridge is open. We descend." Suddenly, the figure becomes demonic. The gas turns from blue to red. "The Gelth will come through in force."

"You said that you were few in number!" Imogen yelled as she held Rose's arm.

"A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses."

The bodies rise.

Sneed steps forward. "Gwyneth... stop this! Listen to your master! This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, leave these things alone. I beg of you—"

"Mr. Sneed! Get back!" Rose cries out to him as a corpse grabs Sneed from behind and holds him still while another of the Gelth fills his body through his mouth.

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose leap back. Mr. Sneed looks up at them through blank, dead eyes.

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong." The Doctor muttered.

"I have joined the legions of the Gelth." Sneed spoke, the undertone of a Gelth in his voice. "Come. March with us."

"No!" Dickens cries.

The corpses advance on the Doctor, Imogen, and Rose. "We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead." They are backing the trio against a dungeon door.

The Doctor looked to Gwyneth under the arch. "Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back! Now!"

"Four more bodies. Make them vessels for the Gelth." The Gelth used her voice.

"I- I can't! I'm sorry!" Dickens cries as the Doctor looks behind him, spots the dungeon door, pushes Rose and Imogen in there with him and slams it shut again so they are locked in there. "It's too much for me! I'm so—" He jumps and runs from the Morgue as one of the Gelth screeches and swoops at him.

The corpses are clamoring to get in the dungeon.

"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth."

The Doctor glared at the Gelth leader. "I trusted you. I pitied you!"

"We don't want your pity! We want this world and all its flesh." They started to rattle the door.

"Not while I'm alive." The Doctor promised.

"Then live no more."

* * *

Dickens has run from the Morgue and rests panting against the door.

The gaseous creatures swirl around the knocker, making it look exactly like the knocker from his story 'A Christmas Carol', and he runs again.

* * *

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose are flattened against the dungeon wall while the Gelth are rattling the door.

"But we can't die." Rose looks at the Doctor for reassurance as Imogen squeezes her hand. "Tell me we can't! We haven't even been born yet, it's impossible for us to die! Isn't it?!"

The Doctor looks at the scared sisters. "I'm sorry."

Rose cries as Imogen wraps her arms around her.

* * *

Dickens has run from the house altogether.

One of the Gelth has followed him. "Failing! Atmosphere hostile!" The figure dives into a gas lamp.

Dickens quickly realizes. "Gas... Gas!"

* * *

"But it's 1869, how can we die now?" Imogen asked the Doctor as she held Rose.

"Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th and it's all my fault." The Doctor explained as he stared into Imogen's eyes. "I brought you two here."

Imogen could see the guilt on his face and softens her scared look. "It's not your fault. We wanted to come."

"What about me? I saw the fall of Troy! World War Five! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party, now I'm going to die in a dungeon!" he is horrified. "In Cardiff!"

Rose sniffled. "It's not just dying. We'll become one of them."

They all looked to the bodies trying to get at them.

* * *

Dickens rushes back into the house and begins to turn all the flames off the gas lamps, so that the gas is released into the air.

Wheezing slightly, he covers his nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

* * *

"We'll go down fighting, yeah?" Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

"Only way I'm going out." Imogen commented.

Rose turned to look at her sister and the Doctor. "Together?"

They both nod. "Yeah!"

They link hands.

The Doctor looked down that the sisters. "I'm so glad I met you."

Imogen and Rose look up at him, surprised.

"Us too." Imogen whispers as Rose nods.

They smile at each other.

At that moment, Dickens rushes into the room. "Doctor! Turn OFF the flame, turn UP the gas! Now fill the room, all of it, now!"

"What're you doing?" Imogen looked at the Doctor. "What is he doing?"

"Turn it all on! Gas the place!" Dickens turns another one on.

The Doctor gets the plan. "Brilliant. Gas!"

"What, so we choke to death instead?" Rose covered her mouth and nose.

"Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous!" Dickens asked the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!"

The corpses all decide to turn on Dickens instead.

"I hope... oh, Lord. I hope that this theory will be validated soon." He mumbles as the corpses advance dangerously on him. "If not immediately."

"Plenty more!" The Doctor smashes a gas canister against the wall and all the creatures are sucked from the bodies with a scream.

"It's working." Dickens screams.

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose are free to come out of the dungeon. They run toward Gwyneth.

"Gwyneth! Send them back! They lied, they're not angels." The Doctor tries to tell Gwyneth the truth.

Gwyneth just simply answers. "Liars."

"Look at me." The Doctor motioned for Gwyneth to look into his eyes. "If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!"

Imogen and Rose started to choke. "Can't breathe." Imogen gasped as Rose coughed.

The Doctor quickly turned to Dickens. "Charles, get them out."

Dickens grabs their arms, but they shake him off.

"I'm not leaving her!" Rose yelled then started to cough again.

Gwyneth barely shook her head. "They're too strong."

"Remember that world you saw? Rose and Imogen's world? All those people - none of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift." The Doctor spoke softly to her.

Gwyneth's tone was firm. "I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out." Her hand goes to her apron pocket and she takes out a box of matches. Rose and Imogen rush forwards.

"You can't!"

"Leave this place!" Gwyneth orders.

The Doctor grabs Imogen and Rose's shoulders since they were next to each other. "Get out, go now, I won't leave her while she's still in danger, now go!"

Dickens, Imogen, and Rose leave the Morgue.

The Doctor holds his hand out for the matches. "Now give that to me."

Gwyneth does not respond.

* * *

Dickens leads the women back through the dark house, filled with gas. "This way!"

* * *

The Doctor places his hand on Gwyneth's neck, feeling for a pulse. His face falls. "I'm sorry." He places a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you." He runs from the Morgue.

Gwyneth takes a match out of the box and waits for a few moments, to be sure the Doctor is safely out of the house. Then she strikes the match.

* * *

The whole house goes up in flames, the Doctor diving out of the doorway only just in time to join Imogen, Rose, and Dickens.

The women fix him with a look that plainly asks why Gwyneth is not with him. The Doctor looks back at them.

Imogen understands his look. "She didn't make it."

The Doctor lowered his head. "I'm sorry. She closed the rift."

"At such a cost. The poor child." Dickens watches the house.

Imogen and Rose have not looked away from the Doctor.

"I did try, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes."

Rose shakes her head. "What do you mean?"

"I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch."

Imogen couldn't believe that. "But... she can't have, she spoke to us. She helped us - she saved us. How could she have done that?"

Dickens cut in before the Doctor could answer. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor."

Rose sighed. "She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know."

All four of them gaze at the burning house.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose, Imogen, and Dickens have arrived back at the TARDIS.

"Right then, Charlie-boy, I've just got to go into my um... shed. Won't be long!" The Doctor fits the key in the lock.

Imogen turns to Dickens. "What're you going to do now?"

"I shall take the mail coach back to London. Quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital."

The Doctor grinned. "You've cheered up!"

Dickens tone turned enthusiastic. "Exceedingly! This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world and now I know I've just started! All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor! I'm inspired. I must write about them!"

"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asked.

"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word! Tell the truth!"

"Good luck with it. Nice to meet you." The Doctor shook Dickens' hand. "Fantastic." He turns back to the TARDIS door.

"Bye, then. And, thanks." Rose shakes his hand and Dickens gives it a kiss.

"It was lovely meeting you." Imogen kisses him on the cheek.

Dickens looks taken-aback. "Oh, my dear- how modern. Thank you, but, I don't understand - in what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"

"You'll see. In the shed." The Doctor opens the door of the TARDIS.

"Oh, my soul. Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this - who are you?"

There was a pause before the Doctor answered. "Just a friend. Passing through."

"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor - do they last?"

The Doctor nods with a grin. "Oh, yes!"

"For how long?"

"Forever!" Dickens tries to look pleased and modest at the same time at the Doctor's answer. "Right. Shed. Come on, Imogen, Rose..." They turn to the door.

"In - in the box? The three of you?"

The Doctor laughs. "Down boy. See ya!" The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose enter the TARDIS and shut the door after them.

* * *

Imogen followed the Doctor. "Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?"

"In a weeks time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies." He saw the sad look on her face. "Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story."

They all look at the screen where they can see Dickens is still standing outside.

Rose frowns. "Oh, no! He was so nice. "

"But in your time, he was already dead! We've brought him back to life! He's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie-boy. Let's give him one last surprise." The Doctor hits a button and the engines rev up.

They smile as they watch Dickens' face when the TARDIS disappears before his eyes.

* * *

Laughing, Dickens' walks away from where the TARDIS stood.

Dickens emerges into the Square.

"Merry Christmas, sir." A passer-by calls to him.

"Merry Christmas to you. God bless us! Everyone!" Dickens calls out into the night, his heart soaring with the new experience and ideas in his head.

* * *

**That was chapter 8.**

**Did you guys enjoy the chapter? :)**

**Imogen is very protective of Rose, and Gwyneth seems to have seen some memories from the necklace.**

**The Doctor didn't ask where Gwyneth had seen the red world since he thought she had slipped into his mind a bit since he was in the room.**

**See you guys next chapter!**


	9. Useless!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**Disney-Princess-In-Disguise: **_We'll learn more about Imogen's background as the story goes :) you'll have to read and find out ;) thank you and enjoy the chapter!_

**Gogo2625: **_Thank you! :D_

**Fandomenforcer: **_yes she did ;) but she doesn't know it yet. Also thank you for reading my other stories and enjoying them :) I appreciate it!_

* * *

**Now, just a little announcement here. **

**On my profile, I will be putting up gifs of Imogen on my profile so it adds to the imagination, like you could see how her face was at that moment and stuff. **

**For that part of the chapter, I will be putting up a little **_*****_** or something to signify that there is a gif there in the profile :)**

**Also, thank you guys for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing, and alerting :) it really means a lot.**

* * *

Outside the Powell Estate, the TARDIS materializes.

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose step out, back in their normal outfits, and the Doctor leans against the door as he folds his arms.

"How long have we been gone?" Rose asked as her and Imogen looked around. It looked so different now…

"About 12 hours." The Doctor answers.

They all laugh.

Imogen was the first to stop. "Oooh! Right, we won't be long, we're just gonna see our mum."

The Doctor frowned. "What're you going to tell her?"

Imogen shrugged. "I don't know! We've been to the year 5 billion... and only been gone, what, 12 hours?" she joked as Rose laughs.

The Doctor gives something between a laugh and a snort.

"No, we'll just tell her we've spent the night at Shareen's. See you later!" Rose waves to him as they walk off but Rose turns back. "Oh - don't you disappear."

The Doctor gives the girls a look to say 'as if I would' and they run off in the direction of the flats.

He settles himself against the TARDIS to wait for them.

* * *

Imogen and Rose run up the stairs to their flat, grinning. They were excited to see their mum again.

* * *

The Doctor wanders around with his arms folded outside and kicks an empty bottle across the yard.

He spots a poster taped to a lamppost that catches his attention.

He walks over to it and reads the writing 'Can You Help?' and sees a photograph of Rose and Imogen.

* * *

Rose opens the door to her flat and Imogen calls out to their mum.

"We're back! It was Shareen. She was all upset again. Are you in?" Jackie walks out of the kitchen holding a cup of tea.

Rose smiles at her. "So, what's been going on? How've you been?"

Jackie looks as though she has seen a ghost. Was she dreaming? Had she finally gone crazy after all the times she saw wisps of blonde hair while she was out? Had her heart had stop from the depression of losing her babies with no trace as to where they had gone?

The girls frowned at the tears in Jackie's eyes.

Imogen took a step forward. "What? What's that face for? It's not the first time we've stayed out all night, and you know I take good care of Rose."

Jackie drops the cup of tea and it smashes on the floor, the tea wetting her slippers.

* * *

Outside, the Doctor gets the gist of the poster and runs to the flats.

He had been wrong, so wrong!

* * *

"It's you." Jackie scanned her daughters, they were wearing the same thing before they left. "It's really the both of you." Jackie couldn't believe it.

Rose frowned. "Of course it's us!"

Jackie became shaken and teary eyed. "Oh, my God. Oh my God." She throws her arms around Imogen and Rose, who both look alarmed.

Then, over her sobbing mother's shoulder, Imogen notices several variations of the same 'Where is Rose?' and 'Where is Imogen?' posters.

Imogen looks over at her sister over their mother's shoulder and motioned to the posters with her eyes.

At that moment, the Doctor comes crashing in. "It's not 12 hours, it's er... 12 months. You've been gone a whole year." He laughs apologetically while Imogen, Rose, and Jackie both look at him, stunned. "Sorry."

Jackie looks back at her daughters, stroking their hair and planting kisses on their faces.

* * *

A small boy is spraying the words 'Bad Wolf' onto the side of the TARDIS.

He then picks up his bike and rides off.

* * *

Jackie was furious as she paced back and forth. "The hours I've sat here. Days and weeks and months all on my own. I thought you two were dead. And where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean? Travelling? That's no sort of answer." Rose is sitting in an armchair with Imogen sitting on the arm while Jackie is giving them all she's got. A policeman is sitting in the other armchair. Jackie turned to the policeman. "You ask them. They won't tell me! That's all they say. Travelling."

Imogen spoke up. "Mum! It's true! That's what we were doing." _*****_

Jackie started to gesture furiously. "When your passports' are still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another!"

Imogen rolled her eyes as Rose slumped in the seat. _*****_ "We meant to phone, we really did, we just... we forgot."

"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here? I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?"

The Doctor, not liking the fact that the girls were getting in trouble for his mistake, spoke up. "Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Rose and Imogen as my companions."

"When you say 'companions', is this a sexual relationship?" the policeman asked.

The Doctor, Rose, and Imogen turned red. "No!" they shout at the same time.

Jackie advanced dangerously on the Doctor. "Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charms and smiles, and the next thing I know, they vanish off the face of the earth! How old are you then? 40? 45? What, you find them on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"

"I AM a Doctor!"

"Prove it! Stitch this, mate." Jackie slapped him hard around the face.

The Doctor groans loudly while Rose rolls her eyes and Imogen bites back a grin.

* * *

In the kitchen, the Tyler women were hugging.

"Did you think about me at all?" Jackie asks as were crying.

Rose stands back slightly. "We did! All the time! But..."

"One phone call. Just to know that you were alive!"

Imogen wiped her eyes. "We're sorry, mum. We really are."

Jackie took a breath. "Do you know what terrifies me, is that you still can't say." Jackie held her daughters cheeks. "What happened to you two? What could be so bad that you can't tell me, sweethearts? Where were you?"

None of the sisters cannot answer her, knowing she wouldn't believe them.

* * *

On the roof, Rose and Imogen are sitting on a wall, Rose leaning her head on her sister's shoulder, and the Doctor is leaning against it.

Imogen sighed. "We can't tell her. We can't even begin..." she paused as she bit her lower lip.

Rose sniffled. "She's never gonna forgive us." She lifted her head to look at the Doctor. "And we missed a year? Was it good?"

"Middling." He answered.

Rose shook her head as Imogen rolled her eyes. "You're so useless."

The Doctor gave Imogen a small glare. "Well, if it's this much trouble, are you gonna stay here now?"

The sisters shake their heads. "We dunno. We can't do that to her again, though." Imogen answered.

"She was alone for a year…"

"Well, she's not coming with us." Rose bursts out laughing at the Doctor's comment and he joins in as Imogen softly snorted.

"No chance."

The Doctor looked away. "I don't do families."

Rose held back a laugh. "She slapped you!"

"900 years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

Imogen laughed. "Your face."

"It hurt!" The Doctor pouted.

"You're so gay!" Rose joked.

The Doctor rubs his cheek, offended.

Imogen becomes serious. "When you say 900 years..."

The Doctor nods. "That's my age."

"You're nine hundred years old." Imogen scanned his face. "Skin looks good."

The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah."

Rose shook her head. "Mum was right - that is one hell of an age gap." She jumps off the wall. "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to, other than Immy. We've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and we can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and we're the only people on planet earth who knows they exist."

Right on cue, a spacecraft narrowly misses their heads as it falls from the sky and heads for Central London. It smashes into Big Ben, then lands with a splash in the Thames.

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose stand up with their mouths open.

"Oh, that's just not fair." Rose groans.

The Doctor laughs gleefully, grabs their hands, and pulls them off in the direction of the action.

* * *

It is complete mayhem on the streets. The trio arrive on the scene.

"It's blocked off."

Imogen see above the people. "We're miles from the centre. The scene must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down."

"I know, I can't BELIEVE I'm here to see this! This is fantastic!"

Rose turned to the Doctor. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

"Nope!"

"Do you recognize the ship?" Imogen questioned.

"Nope!"

"Do you know why it crashed?" Rose asked.

"Nope!"

Imogen groaned. "Useless!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we've got you." Rose snorted sarcastically.

"I bet you are! This is what I travel for! To see history happening right in front of us." The Doctor was all grin.

Imogen slapped his chest lightly. "Well, let's go and see it! Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS!"

The Doctor shook his head. "Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London, don't want to shove another one on top."

"Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice." Rose added.

"You'll be surprised, an emergency like this - there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me, the TARDIS stays where it is."

The girls look distinctly disgruntled.

"So, history's happening and we're stuck here." Imogen grumbled.

"Yes, we are."

"We could always do what everybody else does." The Doctor and Imogen look at Rose questioningly. "We could watch it on TV."

The Doctor looks as though this is a completely new idea to him.

* * *

"Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London." The news reporter informed. "Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control wide-spread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene."

The trio are watching the TV intently.

"The police urge the public not to panic. There's a help line number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family."

They the channel over to an American news channel.

"The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded."

They turn it back to News 24.

"The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find."

Back to the American channel.

"The President will address the nation live from the White House. But the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies."

Jackie comes in to give Imogen and Rose their cups of tea. "I've got no choice! Either I make him welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing you two again!" Both Jackie and her friend Marianna babble on angrily.

"Oi! I'm trying to listen!" The Doctor called out.

"... his current whereabouts. News is just coming in, we can go to Tom at the embankments."

"They've found a body." The Doctor raises his eyebrows as the reporter continues. "It's unconfirmed but I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore."

Jackie enters the room giving a bottle of wine to a couple of people. "Oh, guess who asked me out - Billy Crewe." The Doctor shakes his head.

"Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary. The whereabouts is yet unknown."

The TV changes channels a few times and comes to rest on Blue Peter. "And when you've stuck your things on, you can cover the whole lot..." The Doctor tries to wrestle the TV remote off a toddler on his lap as Imogen watches, not helping but amused with the scene. "Ooo, look at that. Then, ice it, any colour you want - here's one I made a little bit earlier - look at that. Your very own spaceship ready to eat. And there's something a little extra special—"

The Doctor changes the channel back to News 24.

"... in hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here, Albian Hospital, the roads closed off - it's the closest to the river."

The little boy hops off the Doctors lap and stands in front of the TV screen.

The Doctor points violently sideways. "Go on!"

Imogen laughs and comes over to the little boy. "Come on Jim, we need to see what's on." The toddler wanders off.

"I'm being told that... General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The buildings evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body. Contained inside those walls..."

* * *

A group of soldiers enter the mortuary inside the hospital.

General Asquith approaches the table where the alien lies covered with a cloth. "Let's have a look then." Dr. Sato pulls back the cloth. "Good God. That's real? It's not a hoax or a dummy, or a...?"

Dr. Sato shakes her head. "I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up."

"We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive... get that out of sight."

She nods and covers the alien again.

* * *

Two people shut the door of a mortuary shelf.

* * *

Dr. Sato runs after Asquith as he makes to leave. "Excuse me, sir!" The captain stops and turns to face her. "I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumour flying around, but is it true, what they're saying? About the Prime Minister?"

The captain does not answer her. He leaves without another word, followed by soldiers.

She stares after them then hurries in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Mystery still surrounds there whereabouts of the prime minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition are criticizing his lack of leadership. Hold on—" A man gets out of a car and enters 10 Downing Street. "Oh - that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's chairman of the parliamentary commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now."

* * *

When Joseph Green enters 10 Downing Street, his hand is shaken by the Junior Secretary.

"Indra Ganesh. Junior secretary. I'll be your liaison."

"Where the hell is he?"

"If we could talk in private, sir. Follow me, upstairs."

A woman approaches them from behind. "Excuse me! Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North."

Indra raises his hand to stop her. "I'm sorry, can it wait?"

"But I did have an appointment at 3:15."

"Yes. And a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. I think the schedule might have changed." The two men turn away from her and make their way up the stairs. "You've heard about the alien body, sir?"

"Never mind that, where is he? Where's the Prime Minister?"

Indra shook his head. "No one knows, sir. He's disappeared. I have to inform you with the city grid locked and the cabinet stranded that makes you acting Prime Minister. With immediate effect."

"Oh, Lord. Oh, hold on—" Joseph stopped Indra and farted loudly. "Pardon me... nervous stomach. Anyway..."

They run up the stairs. Indra indicates a fat blonde woman. "Margaret Blaine. She's with MI5."

"There's no more information, sir. I personally escorted the Prime Minister from the cabinet room to his car - this is Oliver Charles, transport liaison." Margaret motioned to the man at her side.

"The car's disappeared. There's no record of it, sir - it literally vanished."

Joseph nodded. "Right, er - inside, tell me everything." He ushers them into the cabinet room.

"Er, sir?" Indra calls out. Joseph turns around and Indra holds a red case out to him. "The emergency protocols. Detailing the actions to be taken by the government of Great Britain in the event of an alien incursion."

"Right! Good!" Joseph farts. "Blimey!" Indra looks slightly worried. "Pardon me." He takes the case. "Get to work, eh?" He enters the room after Margaret and Oliver and slams the case down on the long table. He then looks across at them and starts laughing.

A few seconds later they join in.

Soon, they are all in hysterics.

* * *

It is dark as the Doctor slips outside the back door of the Tyler's flat.

Rose and Imogen emerge after him.

"And where do you think you're going?" Rose called out, thankful her sister went to her as soon as she saw the Doctor was leaving.

"Nowhere! It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all." The Doctor answered.

Imogen gave him a look. "Right - there's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just 'wandering'."

The Doctor huffed. "Nothing to do with me! It's not an invasion! That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything! It's perfect!"

Rose looked at the Doctor confused. "So..."

"So maybe this is it! First contact! The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've GOT to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay! Now you can expand!" He laughs in delight as the girls smile. "You don't need me - go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum." He walks away.

Rose stepped forward. "Promise you won't disappear?"

The Doctor stops and turns around again. He feels his jacket pockets. "Tell you what - TARDIS keys." He hands one to each of the women. "About time you two had one." He grins. "See you later!" He leaves.

Rose looks down at the key in her hand, closes her fist around it and walks back to the flat door, looking distinctly chuffed as Imogen just watched the key as she followed.

* * *

The Doctor leaves the block of flats.

There is a raucous party on the third floor with a banner hanging over the balcony saying "THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED". A banner hanging from another window says "WELCOME TO OUR WORLD".

A woman spots the Doctor and calls down to him. "Hey, gorgeous! Come back and join the party!"

Mickey emerges onto another balcony higher up. He picks up a trainer, smells it, and makes a face of disgust. He watches the Doctor look at a sign in a shop window saying "ELLO ET" and then does a double take as the Doctor walks up to the TARDIS taking a bunch of keys out of his pocket. "Oh my God!" He runs back inside taking the smelly trainers with him.

* * *

The Doctor enters the TARDIS, grinning.

He runs to the console, smacks down a few buttons and turns a handle, expecting it to shake about as he moved, but angry humming started to echo around the room.

"What's wrong?"

The box just continued to hum as the lights flashed.

"I promise we'll be right back."

The humming calmed and the Doctor turned the handle again. This time it did what he wanted and beams up at it when it starts to move.

* * *

Outside, the TARDIS begins to disappear just as Mickey runs out of the flats.

"Oi, Doctor! Doctooooooooooooooor!"

He sprints up to the TARDIS and throws himself at it, but just ends up hitting the heavily graffitied corrugated iron behind it and falls backwards from the impact.

He gets up again and brushes himself down, casting furtive looks around him to make sure no one saw him.

He then walks off with as much dignity as he can muster.

* * *

The console starts to smoke. Looking slightly put-out, the Doctor hits it a couple of times with a hammer.

Amazingly, this helps, and the Doctor kisses the hammer and gazes up at the console with a childish beam on his face.

* * *

10 Downing Street is heavily guarded on the outside.

* * *

Harriet Jones places a cup of coffee on Indra's desk. He looks up at her.

"I bet no one's bought you a coffee." She laughs slightly.

Indra nods. "Thank you. "

"Pleasure."

He picks the cup up. She doesn't leave, but looks down at him expectantly. "You still can't go in."

"Damn, you've seen through my cunning plan."

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just impossible." He gets up.

"Not even for two minutes?" Indra shakes his head. "I don't get many chance to walk these corridors. I'm hardly one of the babes - just a faithful back bencher. And I know we've had a brave new world land right on our doorstep, and that's wonderful. I think that's probably wonderful. Nevertheless, ordinary life keeps ticking away." She rifles through her handbag and pulls out a folder. "I need to enter this paper." Joseph Green, Margaret Blaine and Oliver Charles emerge from the cabinet room. "Oh! Mr. Green, sir, I know you're busy, but could you put this on the next cabinet agenda?"

"What is it?"

"Cottage hospitals—" Joseph looks at Indra in alarm who gives an apologetic and resigned wave of his hand. "I've worked out a system whereby cottage hospitals do not have to be excluded from centers of excellence. You see, my mother's in the Flydale infirmary. That's my constituency - tiny lisle place, you wouldn't know it - but to give me a chance to—"

"By all the saints, get some perspective, woman! I'm busy." Joseph snaps. All of them, including Indra, file out of the room, each giving her a funny look as they pass.

Harriet is left alone holding her papers. She looks to make sure they are really gone, then slips into the cabinet room.

Harriet places her papers on the table, on top of the emergency protocols.

She then seems to change her mind and picks them up again. She opens the case and puts it inside instead.

Satisfied, she is just about to close it again when she spots the folder with "Emergency Protocols - Classified Information" written on the front. She sits on the chair in front of the case and opens the folder.

She begins to read the first page with a look of awe on her face.

* * *

Dr. Sato settles herself in front of her desk, picks a pen up and begins to write.

She hears a thumping noise in the distance.

She pauses for a moment but then decides to ignore it. Then she hears it again.

She turns around. The thumping repeats itself over and over again.

It seems to be coming from the place where the alien was put. She stares at it warily.

* * *

The Doctor emerges from the TARDIS, which seems to have landed squashed up in a small storeroom.

He looks around in slight confusion and then makes his way to the door.

He turns on his sonic screwdriver, which makes a loud buzzing noise. He turns it off again hurriedly. "Shh!"

* * *

Dr. Sato edges towards the door of the alien's cupboard. The thumping has become even more frantic, as though something is running around inside, banging against the walls.

* * *

The Doctor finishes unlocking the door, puts his sonic screwdriver away and opens it.

The Doctor finds himself in a room where about 20 soldiers are sitting around talking and laughing.

They fall silent when he opens the door. There is a pause while they all stare at each other, then they all leap to their feet and point their guns at him.

The Doctor grins. Again.

* * *

Dr. Sato approaches the door. She pulls it open and screams.

* * *

Upon hearing the scream, the Doctor stops smiling and runs to the door. "Defense part delta! Come on, move, move!"

All the soldiers follow him from the room in the direction of the scream.

* * *

They run down the corridors. The Doctor spots Dr. Sato cowering on the floor.

"It's alive!" she gasps.

The Doctor turns to the men behind him. "Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lock down." He runs to Dr. Sato's side and holds her hands.

"My God - it's still alive."

The men are still standing there watching them.

"Do it!" the Doctor ordered.

They run off and start searching the building.

The Doctor turns back to Dr. Sato. Blood is leaking out from under her hairline.

"I swear it was dead."

"Coma - shock - hibernation - anything. What does it look like?" There is a slight sound from behind him. He turns around quickly. "It's still here."

He stands up and beckons another soldier into the room. He walks forward quietly, looking for the source of the sound.

When he hears another rattling, he drops to his knees and crawls to peer behind the desk.

From the other side of the desk, the face of a pig peers back at him, snorting.

"Hello!" he greeted. The pig squeals in terror and runs across the room. The soldier readies his gun. "Don't shoot!" The pig runs along the corridor. One of the soldiers points his gun at it and shoots before the Doctor can stop him. "What did you do that for? It was scared!"

The soldier looks from him to the pig in alarm.

The Doctor crouches down to look at the pig. "It was scared."

He strokes the pig as it dies.

* * *

Harriet Jones hears voices approaching the cabinet room.

"I've got the White House phoning me direct because Downing Street won't answer their calls! This is outrageous!" Asquith raged. "We haven't even started the vaccination prota. This is appalling. The nations of the world are watching the United Kingdom!"

"Well, it has all been a bit of a shock." Joseph commented.

"This is the greatest crisis in modern history and you've done nothing! Your behaviour has been shameful, sir." Asquith scolded Joseph. "You're supposed to be in charge and we need positive leadership. The capital's ground to a halt." They enter the room as Harriet disappears into a cupboard just in time. "Furthermore, we can only assume that the Prime Minister's disappearance is the direct result of hostile alien action. And what have you been doing? Nothing."

"Sorry! Sorry. Uh... I thought I was Prime Minister now."

"Only by default. "

"Ooooh, that's not fair! I've been having such fun. "

The Captain looks outraged. "You think this is FUN?"

Joseph shrugged. "It's a hoot, this job."

Joseph, Margaret and Oliver all start to laugh.

"Honestly! It's super!" Margaret pips in.

Oliver farts. "Oh! S'cuse me!" He farts again. "Ooo!"

They burst out laughing again.

The Captain looked around the room. "What's going on here? And where's the rest of the cabinet? Why haven't they been air lifted in?"

"Cancelled it. They'd only get in the way." Joseph farted. "Oh, there I go." He farts twice more, heartily.

Margaret joins in. "Oh, and me! I'm shaking my booty. "

More hysterical laughter punctuated by farts.

The Captain is disgusted. "Sir! Under section 5 of the emergency protocols, it is my duty to relieve you of command." Joseph stops laughing and looks up at the captain darkly. "And by God, I'll put this country under marshal law if I have to."

Joseph's tone became sarcastic. "Oh, I'm SCARED. I mean, that's hair raising. I mean, literally. Look!" He unzips his forehead. A bright blue light shines from the gap.

Bewildered, the captain looks at the other two, who also unzip their foreheads.

Where she is watching from a crack through the door, Harriet's eyes widen in shock. There are some disgusting and worrying noises from the cabinet room and Harriet leans back against the wall of the cupboard, horrified.

* * *

Dr. Sato and the Doctor are standing over the pig's body.

"I just assumed that's what alien's look like. But you're saying it's an ordinary pig? From Earth?"

The Doctor lightly shrugged. "More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat and gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now, someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on... then they strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke."

"So it's a fake. A pretend. Like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain... it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that...?" she turns to face the Doctor, only to find he has vanished. "Doctor?" she hurries from room after him.

Dr. Sato looks up and down a long corridor "Doctor?"

She turns as she hears the sound of the TARDIS engines. Obviously, she does not know what this sound is.

* * *

Imogen and Rose are in the sitting room, which is extremely crowded.

Jackie raises her wine glass in a toast. "Here's to the Martians!"

"The Martians!" everyone cheered.

Mickey appears in the doorway. The laughter dies away as he stares at the Tyler sisters in the armchair, but his eyes mostly stayed on Rose.

She looks around to see why everyone has gone quiet and sits up quickly when she sees him standing there. "I was gonna come and see you."

He just stares at her.

"Someone owes Mickey an apology." A woman pipes up.

"I'm sorry." Rose apologizes.

"Not you." The woman looks at Jackie.

"It's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" she gives Mickey a look and walks into the kitchen.

* * *

**There it was, chapter 9!**

**Remember, if you want to, there are the gifs of Imogen on my profile for the chapter!**


	10. 10 Downing Street

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**Gogo2625: **_lol just enjoy!_

* * *

"You disappear - who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times, I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence, of course there couldn't be, could there. And then I get her - your mother." Mickey points at Jackie who rolls her eyes. "Whispering around the estate - pointing the finger - stuff through my letterbox - and all 'cos of you."

Rose frowned. "I didn't think I'd be gone so long."

"And I waiting for you, Rose! Twelve months. Waiting for you, Imogen, and the Doctor to come back."

Jackie sat up. "Hold on, you knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me? "

Mickey notices someone trying to listen through the window into the kitchen. He slams them shut and closes the door. "Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you two went?"

"Tell me now." Jackie ordered.

Mickey sighed. "I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now, that box thing just faded away."

Imogen snapped her neck towards Mickey. "What do you mean?"

"He's left you two. Some boyfriend HE turned out to be."

Imogen and Rose run from the kitchen, grabbing a jacket from the back of the door on their way out.

Mickey follows them as Jackie stays sitting down, looking frustrated.

* * *

Imogen, Rose, and Mickey are standing at the spot where the TARDIS was parked.

Imogen had her hand covering her mouth as Rose glared at the spot. "He wouldn't just go, he promised us."

"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose." He mocked her. "Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it."

Imogen glared over at Mickey then back at the empty spot. "But he would have said."

Jackie walks over to them. "What're you three chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?"

Mickey chortles. "He's vamoosed!" he hissed as Imogen slapped him in the back of the head.

Rose tone changed to anger. "He's not! 'Cos he gave us each this!" She shows him the TARDIS key. Mickey gives a 'so what?' sort of shrug. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey, he's better than that. He's much more important than—" She breaks off as the TARDIS key starts to glow in time with the sound of the TARDIS engines. "I said so."

The engines get louder.

Imogen turns to her mother, her tone urgent. "Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there, just go inside. Just- mum, go—" But Jackie is not listening to her. She is staring transfixed over Imogen's shoulder, where the TARDIS is appearing out of thin air. The engines grind to a halt.

Mickey points to the TARDIS meaningfully. "Uh?"

Jackie stares at it in amazement. "How'd you do that, then?"

Her daughters look at her warily.

* * *

The sisters enter the TARDIS where the Doctor is looking at the computer screen.

"Alright, so I lied! I went and had a look, but the whole crash landing's a fake - I thought so, it's just too perfect. I mean, 'hitting Big Ben' come on, so I thought let's go and have a look—"

"Our mum's here." Imogen cut him off.

The door creaks open and Jackie and Mickey enter.

The Doctor looks around. "Oh, that's JUST what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic!" he points at the sisters, who just roll their eyes.

"You ruined my life, Doctor." The Doctor spins smoothly around to face Mickey. "They thought they was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you. "

The Doctor turned to Rose, since Mickey was her boyfriend. "See what I mean? Domestic." The Doctor spins back to face the computer screen.

Mickey takes a few steps towards him. "I bet you don't even remember my name!"

"Ricky."

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Ricky." The Doctor argued.

"I think I know my own name."

"You THINK you know your own name? How stupid are you? "

Jackie, who has been looking around the TARDIS with a bewildered expression, turns and runs outside again.

"Mum, don't!" Rose runs after her.

Imogen turns to the Doctor. "Don't go anywhere!" then turns to Mickey. "Don't start a fight!" she gave them both a hot glare and ran out to follow her sister and her mum.

* * *

Jackie runs outside and back to the flats.

Rose pursues her out of the doors.** "**Mum, it's not like that! He's not- I'll be up in a minute, hold on!"

Rose nearly runs into Imogen, who she drags back into the TARDIS.

* * *

The sisters run back inside the TARDIS and back to the Doctor's side, where he is looking at his monitor again.

"That was a REAL spaceship?" Rose asked.

"Yep!"

"So, it's all a pack of lies? What is it then, are they invading?" Imogen asked this time.

Mickey is on tip-toes peering at the screen over their shoulders. "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert."

The Doctor was mildly impressed. "Good point! So, what're they up to?"

* * *

On the TV, a news channel - footage of the spaceship crash landed in the Thames.

"As the crisis continues and the government shows remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country." Jackie is sitting on the end of her bed, looking frustrated and restless. She sighs and kneads her forehead. "There have been at least three reports of public assaults on people publicly identified as aliens." Jackie's look of anxiety increases. "And now back to Tom Kitchnenson."

Jackie falls back onto the bed, her hands over her face.

"Are there more ships to come? " Jackie turns her attention to the television. "What is their intention? The authorities are now asking if ANYONE knows ANYTHING. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number." Jackie reaches for the telephone. "We need your help."

Jackie dials the number on the screen. The first two times it is engaged. The third time, she manages to get through. "Yes! I've seen one. I really have - an alien. And they're with him! My daughters, they're with him. And they're not safe. Oh, my God... they're not safe." Jackie exhales and sits back down on the foot of the bed. "I've seen an alien. And I know his name, he's called 'The Doctor'."

* * *

The words 'The Doctor' are typed into a computer.

* * *

"He has a blue box."**  
**

* * *

'Blue Box' is typed in.

* * *

"They called it a 'TARDIS'."

* * *

'TARDIS' is typed in. An alarm goes off.

* * *

Indra enters at a run - the computer screen is flashing the words 'RED ALERT - THE DOCTOR'.

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, Mickey peers curiously down at the Doctor, where he is once again wedged under the console.

"So, what're you doing down there?"

"Rickey." The Doctor's voice was muffled, due to the sonic screwdriver he's holding between his teeth.

"Mickey."

The Doctor takes the sonic screwdriver out of his mouth to make himself clearer. "Ricky." Mickey rolls his eyes, irked. "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"

"I suppose not..."

"Shut it, then." He puts the sonic screwdriver back between his teeth.

Imogen walked up to them. "Do you need any help?"

"Sure, hold this." The Doctor hands her some parts and gets back to work.

Mickey gives him the evil eye, and moves back round the console to where Rose is standing. "Some friend you've got."

"He's winding you up." Mickey still looks slightly upset. He does not answer. "I am sorry."

"It's okay."

"I am, though!" Rose told him earnestly.

"Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year." Mickey sighed.

"It's only been a few days for me. I don't know, it's... it's hard to tell inside this thing but I swear it's just a few days since I left you."

"Not enough time to miss me, then?"

Rose smiles. "I did miss you."

"I missed you."

"So, erm... in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?" she asked him, that question in her head ever since she came back.

"No."

"Kay..."

"Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you and your sister." Mickey added.

Rose nodded. "Right."

"So... now that you've come back... are you gonna stay?" He leans in to kiss her, but the moment is broken by the sound of sparks from beneath the console and a small scream from Imogen.

"Got it! Haha!" Rose moves to the other side of the console to join him and Imogen. "Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of the spaceship, here we go... hold on..." he whacks the computer screen. "Come on!" he shows the girls the graphic on the screen. "That's the spaceship on it's way to Earth... see? Except... hold on... see, the spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed. "

Imogen tried to figure out what that meant, but no deal. "What does that mean?" she asked the Doctor.

"It means it came from Earth in the first place - it went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?"

* * *

In the cabinet room, the alien who was previously inside the body of Oliver is now finishing putting on the skin suit of the General Asquith. "What do you think? How's the compression? I think I've got too much ballast round the middle..." he farts. "Ah, that's better."

From the cupboard, Harriet Jones's eyes widen with shock and confusion.

"We've really got to fix the gas exchange. It's getting ridiculous." Margaret complained.

Joseph shrugged. "I don't know, it seems very human to me. Ah, better get rid of his skin..."

Asquith picks up the discarded skin of Oliver. "Shame! I quite enjoyed being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress, and a young farmer. He makes towards the cupboard where Harriet is standing. She retreats further to the back. He opens the door and chucks the skin inside. He looks back at Margaret and Joseph. "God, I was busy." They laugh. He shuts the door again.

"Back to work!" Joseph commanded.

"I have an army to command!"

"Careful now..." Margaret warned. They leave the room, their voices retreating.

Harriet picks up the discarded skin of Oliver, and examines it.

* * *

Indra rushes up to Margaret, Asquith and Joseph. "General Asquith! Sir - we've had a priority alarm. It's code nine confirmed code nine."

Harriet Jones hurries out of the cupboard.

Asquith raised his eyebrow. "Code nine, huh? Which would mean...?"

Margaret gives a small and apologetic laugh while Joseph shakes his head behind him.

"Well, in the event of the emergency protocols being activated... we've got software that automatically searches all communications for key words. And one of those words is 'Doctor'. I think we've found him, sir." Indra explained.

"What sort of Doctor? Who is he?" Margaret asked.

"Well, evidently he's some sort of expert in extra-terrestrial affairs, the ultimate expert! And we need him, sir. We need him here right now!"

Harriet pulls a face.

* * *

The Doctor is switching the television from channel to channel.

"How many channels do you get?" Mickey wondered.

"All the basic packages."

"You get sports channels?"

"Yes, I get the football." The Doctor looks back at the screen. "Hold on, I know that bloke."

"It is looking likely that the government is bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space." The Reporter explained.

"UNIT! United Nations Intelligence Task force - good people." The Doctor nodded in approval.

Rose looked at the Doctor. "How do you know them?"

"'Cos he's worked for them." Mickey pointed to the Doctor. "Yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet... and in the history books, and there's his name. Followed by a list of the dead."

The Doctor ignored Mickey's tone. "That's nice. Good boy, Ricky."

Imogen placed her hand on the Doctor's shoulders. "If you know them, why don't you go and help?"

The Doctor shook his head. "They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover... and eh, better keep the TARDIS out of site. Rickey! You've got a car - you can do some driving." He walks towards the TARDIS door.

"Where to?!"

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." The Doctor grinned at Mickey.

* * *

They step out of the TARDIS to the sound of helicopters - they are immediately caught out by a searchlight.

"Do not move!"

Police cars and soldiers surround them, pointing guns and them and preventing their escape.

Mickey makes a run for it.

Jackie runs out of the flats and tries to get to her daughters but two soldiers restrain her. "No!"

Mickey is hiding behind some dustbins.

The Doctor, Imogen, and Rose are standing in the centre looking slightly confused in the searchlight.

"Raise your hands above your head! You are under arrest!"

The trio obey the man on the loud speaker.

"Take me to your leader!" The Doctor grinned as Rose looked at him as if he was insane and Imogen sighed as she closed her eyes.

* * *

Rose clambers into the back of a police car next to the Doctor and Imogen next to him.

The door shuts and they drive off.

"This is a bit posh." Rose commented. "If I knew it was gonna be like this - being arrested - I'd have done it years ago."

"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted!" the Doctor grinned.

"Where to?" Imogen asked.

The Doctor booped her nose. "Where'd you think? Downing Street!" He laughs.

Rose joins in at the glare Imogen sent his way. "You're kidding."

"I'm not!"

"10 Downing Street?" Imogen made sure.

"That's the one!"

Rose laughs with glee. "Oh, my God! We're going to 10 Downing Street?"

The Doctor nods, grinning.

"How come?"

The Doctor looked to Imogen. "I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, uh - noticed."

"So, now they need you?" Imogen guessed.

The Doctor nodded. "Like it said on the news - they're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He grins expectantly at her.

Rose decided to mess with him. "Patrick Moore?"

"Apart from him!"

Imogen looked out the window to watch as they drove by. _*****_ "Ah, don't you just love it..." she teased.

The Doctor cut her off. "I'm telling you, Lloyd George - he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?"

Rose shrugged. "How should I know? We missed a year."

* * *

The car pulls up outside 10 Downing Street. The paparazzi and hundreds of police men are there.

The Doctor gets out of the car and waves at them all, grinning manically.

Rose smiles nervously and the looks up at 10 Downing Street with Imogen. "Oh my God!" she gasped under her breath.

"I know." Imogen whispered in awe back.

They follow the Doctor inside.

* * *

Jackie is talking to three police officers. "So, they're alright then? They're not in any trouble?" she was worrying about her daughters.

Strickland, one of the officers, answers. "Well, all I can say is, your daughters and their 'companion' might be in a position to help the country. We'll need to know how they made contact with this man - if he is a man." He sits down with a loud grumble from his belly. "Oh! Right - off you go then. I need to talk to Mrs. Tyler on my own, thank-you."

The other two police officers exit the flat.

* * *

Harriet Jones slips inconspicuously down the stairs. She enters a room where the alien experts are standing around talking, waiting for the meeting to begin. She flashes her ID card at the policeman standing guard at the door. "Harriet Jones - MP - Flydale North." She mingles amongst the people.

Indra enters. "Ladies and Gentlemen, could we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right and can I remind you, ID cards are to be worn at all times." He approaches the Doctor, and gives him an ID card. "Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companions doesn't have clearance."

"I don't go anywhere without them." The Doctor loops the ID card around his neck.

"You're the code nine, not them." Indra explained. Harriet sidles up to them. "I'm sorry, Doctor... it is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside."

The Doctor glared at Indra. "They're staying with me."

Indra sighed. "Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact."

"It's alright, you go." Rose told the Doctor.

Imogen gave him a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine."

Harriet appears at Indra's shoulder. "Excuse me? Are you the Doctor?"

Indra looks positively exasperated. "Not now, we're busy - can't you go home?"

The Doctor ignored them as he paid attention to the sisters. "Are you sure?"

Imogen waved him off. "Yeah, they're the experts, you should hear what they've got to say."

The Doctor nodded. "I s'pose so. Don't get into any trouble."

"Behave." Imogen warned as Rose grinned. "And play nice with the other children."

The Doctor rolls his eyes, gave a wink, and followed the other experts into the room.

Harriet turned to Indra. "I just need a word in private."

"You haven't got clearance, now leave it!" he takes the sister's arms. "I'm going to have to leave you with security." He begins to lead them away.

Harriet steps in. "It's alright. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." She whispered to the young women. "Walk with me. Just keep walking..." They walk past the guards at the door. "That's right... don't look round! Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." She shows Imogen and Rose her ID card.

* * *

The experts are sitting down in their seats.

Joseph and Asquith make their way to the desk at the front.

The Doctor enters last and takes a seat at the back of the room, reading the booklet he finds on the chair extremely quickly.

* * *

Harriet is outside in the corridor talking to Rose and Imogen. She was upset and distressed. "This friend of yours... he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"

Imogen held Rose's wrist and pulled her a bit back. "Why do you wanna know?"

Harriet breaks down into tears.

Rose takes her arms awkwardly in an attempt to comfort her as Imogen hands her tissues.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to have your attention please." Asquith greeted. "As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant—"

The Doctor cut him off. "Now, the REALLY interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under every other business." He made his way up front. "The North Sea - the satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation at one hundred fathoms like there was something down there... you were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens - spaceships, pigs - massive diversion - from what?"

* * *

Harriet Jones is back in the cabinet room and showing the sisters the body suit of Oliver. "They turned the body into a suit! A disguise for the thing inside!" she bursts into tears again.

Imogen tried to calm her. "It's alright! We believe you. It's... it's alien. They must have some SERIOUS technology behind this... if we could find it..." Rose and herself start rummaging around the room. "... We could use it.

Rose opens a cupboard and the Prime Minister's body falls out.

Imogen and Harriet hurry to examine it with Rose.

Rose gasps. "Oh, my God! Is that-?"

Indra enters. "Harriet, for God's sake! This has gone beyond a joke - you cannot just wander—" he spots the body on the floor. "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"

* * *

The Doctor is still lecturing the experts, Asquith and Joseph.** "**If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?" there is a pause as he works it out. "Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap."

* * *

"Ohhh! Indra, Imogen, Rose and Harriet turn to see Margaret enter the cabinet room. "Has someone been naughty?"

They look at each other.

Margaret shuts the door behind her.

* * *

Jackie goes into the kitchen. She is still speaking to the officer, Strickland. "It was bigger on the inside. I dunno, what do I know about spaceships?"

"That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as 'trouble'. Which means that anyone associated with him IS trouble." He looks at Jackie through the hatch, retreats back into the living room. "And that's my job." He takes off his hat to reveal a zip on his forehead. "Eliminating trouble."

He starts to undo the zip, filling the room with a blue light.

* * *

"That's impossible." Indra gasped. "He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street, he was driven away!"

"And who told you that? Hmm?" Margaret walks to the baffled Indra. "Me." She strokes the hair from her forehead.

* * *

"This is all about us." The experts all look intrigued as they stared at the Doctor. "Alien experts - the only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room." Joseph farts. The Doctor raises his eyebrows and fixes him with a pointed look. "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"

"Would you rather silent but deadly?"

Asquith and Joseph snigger.

The Doctor stares at them.

Asquith takes off his hat and undoes the zip on his forehead while Joseph laughs manically. Asquith pulls the skin suit down and reveals the Slitheen inside.

The Doctor stares at him, transfixed.

* * *

Margaret pulls her skin suit, revealing herself to the disgust and shock of Indra, Harriet, Imogen and Rose.

* * *

Jackie pauses halfway through making the tea. The flickering blue light is filling the whole flat.

She tentatively walks to the kitchen door.

* * *

Asquith finishes shrugging off his skin suit.

Joseph is still cackling evilly.

* * *

Jackie, now framed in the doorway of the kitchen, beholds the alien.

Her eyes widen with shock. She takes deep breaths.

* * *

Margaret is now entirely out of her skin suit.

She stands before Rose, Imogen, Indra and Harriet who all look astounded.

* * *

Asquith, also out of his skin suit, straightens up and addresses the room. "We are the Slitheen."

* * *

Margaret roars in delight and grabs Indra between her claws, pinning him up against the wall. He shouts as she strangles him.

* * *

The Slitheen advances on Jackie.

She screams and backs against the counter, sinking against it as the Slitheen raises his claw to strike.

* * *

"Thank you all for wearing your ID cards." Joseph takes a weapon from his pocket, at the ready. "They'll help to identify the bodies."

He presses the button. Everyone in the room is bathed in electric light.

The Doctor falls to his knees in pain.

* * *

Margaret strangles Indra. The women wince, their bodies frozen in shock.

* * *

Jackie screams as the Slitheen prepares to strike.

* * *

The Doctor shouts in pain as his whole body shakes.

Joseph has a savage pleasure in his eyes and Asquith laughs.

* * *

**There you have it! Chapter 10!**


	11. Raxacoricofallapatorius!

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_**Gallifreyan**_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**gogo2625:** _Here it is!_

* * *

Both Joseph and the Slitheen howl with pain.

* * *

Margaret, also covered in the electricity, drops Indra's body from the wall.

* * *

In the kitchen, the Slitheen who was attacking Jackie is also suffering.

* * *

The Doctor dashes to the door, past the bodies. He needed to find the girls and help save the world, again.

* * *

Imogen grabs Rose's hand, who grabs Harriet's hand, and they run from the room, Harriet whimpering slightly, Rose just looking terrified, and Imogen looking for a way out or a safe place to hide.

* * *

Jackie is still crouched on the floor in horror, watching the alien screeching in pain.

Mickey appears in the doorway. "Jackie!" He whacks the Slitheen over the head with a chair, grabs Jackie's arms and pulls her out of the kitchen.

He pauses in the doorway to take his phone out of his pocket and snap a picture of the Slitheen.

He grins, and then runs to join Jackie.

* * *

The Doctor finds security all gathered in reception. "Oi! You want aliens - you've got them. They're inside Downing Street." He claps his hands. "Come on!"

He leads them in the direction of the conference room, their guns at the ready.

* * *

Joseph finally manages to deactivate the weapon, and the electricity disappears.

He picks up the skin suit of General Asquith. "Reinstate my disguise! Hurry up! Hurry! Hurry!"

Joseph hastens to help the Slitheen into the skin suit.

* * *

Imogen, Rose and Harriet run down a corridor.

"No, wait!" Harriet makes them stop. "They're still in there! The emergency protocols! We need them!" She runs back in the direction of the cabinet room.

The sisters follow her, but they are quickly forced to change direction as Margaret Slitheen comes their way. She chases after them.

They run across a hallway, Imogen and Rose closing the door behind them.

Margaret simply leaps through it.

Imogen, Rose and Harriet arrive back in another room, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

The Doctor leads security into the meeting room, where Joseph is making the finishing touches to Asquith's skin suit.

They both stop when they see the Doctor and security standing there.

"Where've you been?" Joseph spat at the soldiers. Security start checking the bodies for any sign of life. "I called for help, I sounded the alarm. There was this... lightening! This kind of er... um... electricity, and they all collapsed!"

"I think they're all dead." Sargent Price announced.

"That's what I'm saying. He did it!" Joseph pointed at the Doctor. "That man there!"

"I think you will find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise." Joseph folds his arms skeptically. The Doctor looks at the policeman next to him. "That's never going to work, is it?"

"Nope."

"Fair enough." The Doctor runs for it.

* * *

Security are hot on the Doctor's tail, and he soon finds himself surrounded. He puts his hands in the air, grinning.

"Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorize you to execute this man!" Asquith orders.

Security ready their guns.

"Uh, well, now, yes. You see, eh... the thing is... if I was you, if I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, between you and me, little word of advice..." the lift behind the Doctor pings open. "Don't stand them against the lift!" He backs into the lift and closes the door with his sonic screwdriver.

* * *

Margaret Slitheen is still chasing after Imogen, Rose and Harriet. Rose knees a locked door.

The lift pings open, revealing the Doctor.

Margaret roars at him, and he smiles and nods around at them all.

"Hello." He greeted her pleasantly. The doors shut again, distracting Margaret long enough for Imogen, Rose and Harriet to slip away un-noticed.

* * *

Imogen, Rose and Harriet find themselves in a room where all the doors are locked - a dead end.

"Shit!" Imogen curses as she looks around. "Hide!"

They all hide themselves extremely poorly. There weren't that many things to hide behind in the room.

* * *

The lift pings and the Doctor steps out on the second floor.

* * *

Asquith and security are still standing next to the lift they backed the Doctor against. "I repeat, the upper floors are under quarantine. You will stay where you are. You will disregard all previous instructions. You will take your orders directly from me."

The lift pings and Joseph and Asquith step into it.

Sargent Price stops them. "Mr. Green sir - I'm sorry but you've got to come with me. We should evacuate the entire building."

"Sergeant - have you uh - read the Emergency Protocols?" Joseph asked him.

"No, sir."

"Then don't question me." Joseph steps back into the lift. "Seal off number 10 - secure the ground floor - and if the Doctor makes it downstairs - shoot on site!" He shuts the doors.

The sergeant turns to face the others. "Well, you heard him! Move out!" They do so. The sergeant follows them.

* * *

"Let the sport begin." Asquith grinned.

Joseph farts. "I'm getting poisoned by the gas exchange. I need to be naked!"

"Rejoice in it! Your body is... magnificent."

They both undo the zips on their foreheads.

* * *

Margaret Slitheen enters. "Oh, such fun!" Her tone is playful. "Little human children... where are you? Sweet little humeykins... come to me... let me kiss you better..." Rose bolts from her hiding place behind a cabinet to take refuge behind the curtain where Imogen was hiding. "...kiss you with my big, green lips." She hisses.

* * *

The Doctor runs down a flight of stairs, hearing the Sergeant barking orders in the distance. Then he hears the lift ping, and hastily backtracks and hides in a crevice next to the door.

The two Slitheen walk past. "We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase."

The Doctor waits until they are out of sight.

* * *

The two Slitheen, Joseph and Asquith join Margaret.

"My brothers." She greeted them.

"Happy hunting?" Joseph asked.

"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink."

"Sweat... and fear." Asquith chuckled.

Harriet's mouth drops open with horror.

Imogen holds Rose's hand tight.

Joseph started to sniff the air. "I can smell an old girl... stale bird... brittle bones."

"And 2 ripe youngsters. All hormones and adrenaline. Fresh enough to bend before they snap." Margaret sweeps the curtain aside revealing Rose and Imogen, who screams.

Harriet jumps out from her hiding place. "No! Take me first! Take me!"

The Doctor crashes in and blasts a fire extinguisher in the Slitheen's faces. "Out! With me!"

Imogen pulls the curtains down over Margaret's head and then both she, Rose, and Harriet run to stand behind the Doctor.

The Doctor looks at Harriet. "Who the hell are you?"

"Harriet Jones - MP for Flydale North."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

The Doctor blasts the fire extinguisher again. Then they run for it.

"We need to get to the cabinet rooms!" The Doctor called out as they ran.

"The Emergency Protocols are in there!" Harriet remembered. "They give instructions on aliens!"

The Doctor turned to Harriet. "Harriet Jones - I like you."

"And I like you too." They run.

The Doctor bypasses a locked door with his sonic screwdriver and the Slitheen pursue them all the way back to the cabinet room.

They have no time to close the door, so instead the Doctor picks up a bottle of brandy and hold his sonic screwdriver to it. "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof! We all go up. So back off." The Slitheen hesitate. "Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"

"They're aliens." Harriet answered.

"Yes. I got that, thanks."

"Who are you, if not human?" Joseph asked the Doctor.

Harriet frowned. "Who's not human?"

"He's not human." Rose pointed to the Doctor.

"He's not human?" Harriet asked, shocked.

"Yes." Imogen nodded.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Can I have a bit of hush?"

"Rude." Imogen mumbled.

"Sorry." Harriet apologized.

The Doctor returned his attention back to the Slitheen. "So - what's the plan?"

Harriet couldn't understand. "But he's got a Northern accent."

"Lots of planets have a North." Imogen commented.

"I said hush. Come on!" he scolded the women. He holds the brandy threateningly out in front of him. "You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government - what for? Invasion?"

"Why would we invade this God forsaken rock?" Asquith hissed.

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here - what is it?"

"'The Slitheen race'?" Asquith scoffed.

"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname." Joseph explained. "Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer Day Slitheen at your service."

It clicked in the Doctor's head. "So, you're family."

"It's a family business." Joseph added.

"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a 'God forsaken rock'?" The Doctor asked.

Asquith looked at the sonic in the Doctor's hand. "Ahhh... excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability...?"

"Is that what I said?"

"You're making it up!"

"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." The Doctor offers her the brandy.

"Pass it to the left first." Harriet's hands were full.

"Sorry." The Doctor hands it to Rose.

Rose takes it. "Thanks."

"Now we can end this hunt... with a slaughter." Asquith flexes his claws menacingly.

The Doctor fold his arms.

Imogen leaned forward to whisper to the Doctor. "Don't you think we should run?"

The Slitheen shuffle forward.

The doctor ignored her. "Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr. Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the cabinet room - if the cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain." He presses a switch near the door. "End of lesson."

Every entrance to the room is immediately blocked by metal shutters.

The Doctor turns to Imogen, Rose and Harriet. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."

Imogen raised her hand. "That's a fun lesson and all, but how do we get out?"

There was a pause.

"Ah."

Rose slapped her forehead as Imogen groaned.

* * *

"He is safely contained." Joseph told his brother and sister. "Now, cut off communications inside that room, then summon the family, it's time we finished with this insane planet for good!"

They make to leave.

* * *

Jackie and Mickey emerge from a side door of the block of flats.

They run stealthily across the yard to avoid detection from the policeman who still surround the building.

They remain unnoticed.

* * *

"And there's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals." The reporter looks around as another fat man gets out of a car outside Downing Street. "That's group Captain Tennant James of the RAF - though why he's been summoned, I've no idea."

Another man emerges from a car.

"And that's ah... Ewan McAllister. Deputy Secretary for the Scottish Parliament. And this is most unusual!"

A fat woman makes her way to 10 Downing Street.

"I'm told that is Sylvia Dillane - chairman of the North Sea Boating Club. Quite what connects these people, we have no idea."

* * *

Margaret comes down the stairs and greats Tennant James. "Group Captain - delighted you could make it. We're meeting upstairs." He farts. "That's the spirit. Off you go." Ewan McAllister stands in front of her - she shakes his hand. "Good to see you!" she nods pleasantly at Sylvia. "Come on through!"

Asquith stops the Sergeant as he goes past. "Ah! Sergeant - now that the Doctor's been neutralized, the upper levels are out of bounds - to everyone."

"Then who are they?" He nods towards the three newcomers who are now going up the stairs.

"Ahh, Sergeant. I want you to liaise with communications - the acting Prime Minister will be making a public address. He will speak to the nations of the world." He walks off, leaving the Sergeant looking bewildered and confused.

* * *

Margaret is showing her family into a room. "There you are - if you'd just like to go through and get changed." She ushers Sylvia into the room and grabs a coat hanger on her way to the other door. She takes a skin suit from an emerging Slitheen. "Now, if you'd like to head down to the end corridor, it's first on the left."

"Thank you."

Margaret hangs the skin suit up.

* * *

Jackie and Mickey are in Mickey's kitchen. Mickey is holding a kettle.

"Have you got anything stronger?" Jackie asked.

"No chance, I've seen you when you've had a few - this ain't time for a conga."

Jackie sits. "We've gotta tell someone."

"Who do we trust? For all we know, they've all got big bog monsters inside of them. I mean, this is what he does, Jacks." He brandishes a couple of mugs at her in his enthusiasm. "Everywhere he goes - death and destruction, and he's got Rose and Immy in the middle of it."

"Has he got a great big green thing inside him, then?"

"I wouldn't put it past him." Mickey takes a bottle of milk from the fridge. "But like it or not, he's the only person who knows how to fight these things."

"I thought I was gonna die." Jackie bursts into tears and Mickey gives her a quick hug.

"Come on, yeah? If anyone's gonna cry, it's gonna be me. Now, you're safe in my flat, Jacks - no one's gonna look for you here, especially since you hate me so much."

"You saved my life." Jackie sniffled. "God, that's embarrassing."

"You're telling me."

They laugh slightly.

"He wanted me dead. And he's still out there, Mickey..." she stands up. "That policeman... that thing..."

* * *

Strickland sniffs the air. He turns to another policeman behind him. "Right - you head off. You're in full control, I've got one or two things that still need doing. I haven't quite finished with Mrs. Tyler yet..."

The other police officers nod and get in the car.

* * *

Joseph goes up to Margaret who is adjusting the skin suit on the hangers. "Is that all of us?"

"All the family except Sit Fel Fotch. He's found a hunt of his own."

"Ah!"

They smile and he walks off.

* * *

The Doctor drags Indra's body into a cupboard. "What was his name?"

"Which one?" Harriet asked.

"This one - the secretary or whatever he was called."

Harriet goes to look. "I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name."

The Doctor crosses Indra's hands over his body. "Sorry." He strides into the room. "Right, what have we got? Any terminals? Anything?"

Rose shook her head. "No. The place is antique."

Imogen stepped forward. "What I don't get, is when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?"

"He's too slim - they're big old beasts, they need to fit inside big humans." The doctor explained.

"But the Slitheen are about 8 feet, how do they squeeze inside?" Rose wondered.

"That's the device around their necks - compression field - literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange."

"Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller." Rose mumbled.

Harriet looked at Rose shocked. "Excuse me, people are dead, this is not the time for making jokes."

"Sorry... you get used to this stuff when you're friends with him." Rose indicates the Doctor, who is busy scanning the walls with his sonic screwdriver.

"Well, that's a strange friendship." Harriet mutters.

"Harriet Jones - I've heard that name before - Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" the Doctor questioned Harriet.

"Huh! Hardly."

"Rings a bell, Harriet Jones..." He looks as though he is struggling to remember something.

"Lifelong back bencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now - the protocols are redundant, they list the people who can help and they're all dead downstairs."

"Hasn't it got like, defense codes and things?" Rose asked. "Can we just launch a nuclear bomb at 'em?"

Harriet started at Rose. "You're a very violent young woman..."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm serious! We could!"

Imogen shook her head. "That's a bad idea. Something like that could kill everyone in the area, innocent people." Her words caused the Doctor to look over at her.

Harriet searched the case. "Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."

The Doctor stops scanning the mantelpiece with his sonic screwdriver to listen. "Say that again."

"What, about the codes?"

"Anything. All of it."

"Um, well..." Harriet cleared her throat. "The British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the UN."

Rose snorted. "Like that's every stopped them."

"Exactly, given our past record - and I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the governments hands and given to the UN." The Doctor is deep in thought as Harriet continues. "Is it important?"

"Everything's important."

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me, I'm saying 'Slitheen' as if it's normal." Harriet sighed.

"What do they want, though?" Imogen wondered.

"Well, it's just one family so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen world... they're out to make money, which means they want to use something, something here on Earth... some kind of asset."

"Like what? Gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet guessed.

"You're very good at this." The Doctor complimented.

Harriet was pleased, not use to the compliments. "Thank you."

"Harriet Jones - why do I know that name?"

Imogen's phone goes off. "Oh! That's me." She takes her phone out of her pocket.

"But we're sealed off - how did you get a signal?" Harriet asked.

Rose motioned to the Doctor. "He zapped it! Super-phone."

Harriet turned to the Doctor. "Then we can phone for help! You must have contacts."

He nodded. "Dead downstairs, yeah."

"It's Mickey." Imogen announced.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and turned to Rose. "Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy."

"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." Imogen hands the Doctor her phone.

Mickey has sent her the photo of the Slitheen in Jackie's kitchen.

* * *

Mickey and Jackie enter Mickey's bedroom, Mickey checking around the door first.

He is on the phone to Rose, since Imogen handed it to her and Rose left her phone at the TARDIS in a rush. "No, no, no, no, no - not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!"

"I could've died!" Jackie yelled behind him so Rose could hear her.

Mickey gestures violently at Jackie.

"Is she alright, though? Don't put her on, just tell me."

The Doctor snatches the phone from Rose. "Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer."

"It's Mickey. And why should I?"

"Mickey the Idiot - I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but eh - I need you."

Rose smiles and Imogen grins.

* * *

Mickey is on the UNIT website. "It says password."

* * *

The Doctor is putting the mobile on speakerphone. "Say again."

"It's asking for the password."

"Buffalo - two Fs, one L."

* * *

Jackie puts down two cups of tea on the computer desk. "So, what's that website?"

Mickey finishes typing in the password and turns to her as the page loads. "All the secret information known to mankind."

* * *

"See, they've known about aliens for years, they just kept us in the dark." Mickey continued.

"Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor commented.

* * *

"Oh, leave him alone." Rose stood up for Mickey.

"Thank you. Password again."

"Just repeat it, every time." The Doctor told him. Mickey hands Jackie the phone as he types it in again.

* * *

"Big Ben - why did the Slitheen hit Big Ben?" The Doctor wondered out loud.

Harriet looked to the Doctor. "You said to gather the experts - to kill them."

"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon, you don't need to crash land in the middle of London."

"You said so yourself, the Slitheen were hiding - and then they put the entire planet on red alert, what would they do that for?" Imogen asked

* * *

Jackie stared at the phone as she listened to her eldest daughter speak. "Oh, listen to her. Well, I've got a question if you don't mind. Because since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughters disappeared off the face of the Earth."

* * *

Rose frowned as Imogen moved closer to the phone. "We told you what happened, mum."

"I'm talking to him. 'Cause I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it. And maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this - are my daughters safe?"

The Doctor stares intently at the phone.

"Mum," Rose stepped forward. "We're fine."

"Are they safe?" Jackie asked the Doctor. "Will they always be safe? Can you promise me that?" The Doctor glances up at Rose and Imogen, who look back at him. They stare at each other. "Well, what's the answer?"

* * *

Mickey grabs the phone off Jackie, breaking the moment. "We're in."

* * *

Let off the hook, the Doctor rushes around the table. "Right then - on the left, there's a tab - an icon - little concentric circles - click on that."

* * *

"What is it?" Mickey asked.

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal, now hush, let me work out what it's saying." The Doctor shushed him.

* * *

"He'll have to answer me one day." Jackie mumbled.

Mickey started to gesture violently. "Hush!"

* * *

"It's some sort of message." The Doctor spoke up.

"What's it say?" Rose's voice came through the phone.

"Don't know - it's on a loop, keeps repeating." Mickey's doorbell rings. "Hush!"

* * *

"That's not me." Mickey turns to Jackie. "Go and see who that is."

"It's three o'clock in the morning." Jackie hissed.

"Well go and tell them that."

Jackie gives him a look as she gets up. Mickey shakes his head.

* * *

"It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" The Doctor asked.

* * *

The doorbell rings more persistently.

"Alright!" Jackie opens the door to reveal Strickland.

"Mrs. Tyler."

Jackie slams it shut again and runs back to Mickey's room squealing.

"It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slickeen!"

"They've found us." Mickey started to panic.

"Mickey, I need that signal."

Imogen's voice came through after the Doctor's. "Never mind the signal, mum just get out! Get out! Get out!"

Mickey picks up a cricket bat. "We can't, it's by the front door."

* * *

Outside the front door, the Slitheen takes his body suit off.

* * *

Jackie and Mickey see the blue light shining beneath the cracks around the door.

"Oh, my God." Mickey gasped. "It's unmasking. It's gonna kill us."

* * *

"There's got to be some way of stopping them!" Harriet turns to the Doctor. "You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!"

"I'm trying!"

* * *

The Slitheen makes worrying noises from outside.

"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back. Just run." Mickey told Jackie. He squares himself in front of the door.

* * *

Down the phone, they hear the Slitheen smashing the door in.

"That's our mother." Rose panicked.

"We got to help them, Doctor." Imogen pleaded.

The Doctor nodded. "Right! If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from - which planet. So, judging by their face and shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within traveling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"

"They're green." Rose started.

"Yep, narrows it down."

"Uh, good sense of smell." Imogen added.

"Narrows it down."

Rose tried to remember. "They can smell adrenaline."

"Narrows it down."

"The compression technology." Harriet added.

"Narrows it down."

Imogen snapped her fingers. "The spaceship in the Thames - you said slipstream engine?"

"Narrows it down."

* * *

The Slitheen punches a hole through the door.

"It's getting in!" Mickey screams.

* * *

"Oh! They hunt like it's a ritual." Rose added.

"Narrows it down."

"Wait a minute!" Harriet paused. "Did you notice, when they fart - if you'll pardon the word - it doesn't just smell like a fart - if you'll pardon the word - it's something else, what is it, it's more like uh... um..."

"Bad breath!" the sisters answered together.

"That's it!" Harriet snapped her fingers.

"Calcium decay! Now that narrows it down!" he mentally crossed out a bunch aliens from his list.

"We're getting there, mum!" Imogen called out to the speakerphone.

* * *

"Too late!" Mickey yells.

The Slitheen is still having some trouble getting through the door.

* * *

"Calcium phosphate, organic calcium, living calcium, creatures made out of living calcium, what else, what else - hyphenated sodium - yes! That narrows it down to one planet! Raxacoricofallapatorius!" The Doctor grins, happy he now knows.

* * *

"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." Mickey tells him sarcastically.

The Slitheen kicks half the door down and begins to step through it.

"Get into the kitchen!" The Doctor orders.

Jackie and Mickey back into the kitchen. They slam the door, trying to bar it shut with a chair and a dustbin as the Slitheen throws its weight against it.

"My God, it's going to rip us apart!" Jackie gasps.

* * *

"Calcium, recombined with compression field - ascetic acid. Vinegar!" the Doctor rambled.

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet grinned.

"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?" he asked.

"How should I know?" Mickey's voice came through strained as he pressed against the door.

"It's your kitchen." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

Rose cut in. "Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf."

* * *

Jackie snatches the phone from Mickey. "Give it here, what do you need?"

"Anything with vinegar!"

Jackie grabs a jug and opens the cupboard. "Gherkins!" The Slitheen is poking holes in the door with its claws. "Yeah! Pickled onions!" She adds them to the jug. Mickey has the bat raised ready. "Pickled eggs!"

* * *

The Doctor looked to Rose. "You kiss this man?"

Rose blushed.

* * *

The Slitheen finally kicks down the door and enters the kitchen.

Jackie and Mickey back against the counter. Jackie chucks the vinegar all over it.

There is a few seconds silence and then it explodes, splattering the whole room, Jackie and Mickey with green goo.

* * *

Having heard the bang, the Doctor, Imogen, Rose and Harriet all breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

Mickey lowers his bat, now that the danger is gone for now. He too breathes a sigh of relief.

* * *

"Hannibal?" Rose asked Harriet, having no idea what she meant.

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." Harriet explained.

Imogen raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I never knew that."

Rose nodded. "Oh. Well, there you go then." They all raise their glasses in toast, and drink. "Phew!"

* * *

Downstairs, Asquith approaches Joseph. "He's dead. Sip Fel Fotch Pasameer- Day Slitheen is dead."

"I felt it. How could that happen?"

"Somebody must've got lucky."

"That's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have." Joseph growled.

* * *

Joseph and Asquith walk out of the doors of 10 Downing Street, to address the crowd outside.

Joseph faces the camera. "Ladies and Gentlemen - Nations of the World - Human Kind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They gathered in the common cause. But the news I bring you now is grave indeed."

* * *

Mickey, wiping the goo off himself with a towel, comes into the living room to watch Joseph on the TV.

"The experts are dead. Murdered - right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the Earth, heed my words. These visitors do not come in peace."

Mickey takes the phone off Jackie. "Listen to this." He holds the phone to the TV.

"Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction, capable of being deployed within 45 seconds."

* * *

The Doctor, Rose and Harriet are crowded around the phone, listening to him.

"What?" The Doctor mutters.

Joseph's voice echoes through the speakerphone. "Our technicians can - baffle - the alien probes. But not for long. We are facing extinction. Unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg the United Nations - pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes! A nuclear strike at the heart of the ship is our only chance of survival. Because... from this moment on... it is my solemn duty to inform you... planet Earth is at war."

* * *

**There you go! Hope you guys enjoyed it!**


	12. Hannibal!

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

_**Gallifreyan**_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**gogo2625: **_Here's another one! Enjoy!_

**grapejuice101: **_Here's the update!_

** : **_Thank you! I try to put as much details in it as I can._

* * *

The Doctor shook his head. "He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."

Imogen frowned. "Do you think they'll believe him?"

"They did last time." Rose sighed.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot - you get scared, you lash out." The Doctor marched toward the door.

"They release the defense codes..."

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." The Doctor finished Rose's comment.

"But why?" Harriet asks.

The Doctor opens the metal shutters to show the Slitheen are still standing outside the door. "You get the codes, release the missiles. But not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth, they retaliate, fight back. World War Three - whole planet gets nuked."

Margaret Slitheen, still in her skin suit, stands before the Doctor. "And we can sit through it in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed. Just parked. They'll be two minutes away."

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place." Imogen frowned. "What for?"

"Profit." The Doctor answered. "That's what the signal is beaming into space - an advert."

"Sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it. Piece by piece. Radioactive chucks capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship." Margaret grinned. "There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. "At the cost of 5 billion lives."

Margaret shrugged. "Bargain."

"Then I give you the choice - leave this planet or I'll stop you."

The Slitheen all burst out laughing. "What? You? Trapped in your box?"

The Doctor does not look remotely abashed. He stares her out. "Yes. Me."

Margaret laughs again, but nervously.

The Doctor fixes her in his gaze and closes the shutters.

The smirk fades from Margaret's face.

* * *

London is almost completely deserted.

The reporter speaks into the camera. "Yesterday saw the start of a brave new world. Today might see it end. The streets are deserted. Everyone's home - just waiting. As the future is decided in New York."

* * *

The Newsreader reads from the prompt. "It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of mass destruction do exist. The security counsel will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes."

* * *

Mickey picks up the phone from the top of the TV as the newsreader continues.

"And once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins."

Jackie is watching the TV biting her nails, scared and anxious.

* * *

Inside 10 Downing Street, Margaret and Asquith make to go up the stairs as Joseph pauses at the bottom to talk to the Sergeant.

"Sergeant. We'll take the call in the Prime Minister's office. Maintain the oppositions. Good luck." They shake hands.

Asquith pats him genially on the shoulder, and the Sergeant resumes his post at the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

Margaret, Asquith and Joseph bundle their way into the Prime Minister's office, all insanely excited.

"Oh! Look at that! The telephone is actually red." Margaret blows it a kiss.

Joseph sits down behind the desk, farting as he does so. "How long 'til they phone?!" He asks excitedly.

"Counting down...!" Asquith calls out.

* * *

Jackie is on the phone again. "Alright, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do."

* * *

"If we ferment the porch, we could make ascetic acid." Harriet tells the group her idea.

Rose moves to the speakerphone. "Mickey, any luck?"

"There's loads of emergency numbers - they're all on voicemail." He answers.

The Doctor is standing quietly with his arms folded, leaning against the wall away from the other two. He is deep in thought.

Harriet sighed. "Voicemail dooms us all."

Imogen pressed her hands on the metal stutters. "If we could just get out of here..."

"There's a way out." The Doctor spoke up.

"What?" Imogen turns to face him incredulously.

"There's always been a way out."

Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "Then why don't we use it?"

The Doctor strides over to the table and leans over to speak into the phone. "Because I can't guarantee your daughters will be safe." He spoke to Jackie.

"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare." Jackie yelled at him through the speaker.

"That's the thing, if I don't dare, everyone dies."

There was a pause until Rose spoke. "Do it."

The Doctor looks up at her. "You don't even know what it is, you'd just let me?"

Imogen nodded, agreeing with Rose. "Yes. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." She turned her head to look at the Doctor. _*****_

The Doctor stared at them in disbelief.

"Please, Doctor." Jackie pleaded. "Please! They're my daughters, my babies. They're just children!"

"Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie, it's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will."

Imogen held Rose's hand as she spoke softly. "Then what're you waiting for?"

The Doctor looks up at them again. "I could save the world but lose you two."

They stare intensely into each others eyes for a long moment until Rose averts her gaze and Imogen rubs at her eyes.

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Harriet stepped forward.

Jackie became angry and lashed out. "And who the hell are you?"

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people, for the people, and on behalf of the people I command you. Do it."

The Doctor looks back at sisters and grins.

* * *

Joseph, Margaret and Asquith are still waiting for the phone to ring.

"Victory..." Joseph grumbled. "Should be naked!" He unzips his forehead. The other two follow suit.

* * *

Rose jumps onto the table. "How do we get out?"

Doctor opens the briefcase containing the emergency protocols. "We don't. We stay here." He opens the emergency protocols.

* * *

In New York, the newsreader receives new information through her earpiece.** "**The counsel is voting. The results should be known any second now."

* * *

The Slitheen finish removing their skin suits.

* * *

The Doctor shuffles through the protocols and then turns to address Mickey. "Use the buffalo password, it overrides everything."

* * *

Mickey types the password in.

Jackie watches him. "What're you doing?"

Mickey responded in a tone as though he can't quite believe what he is saying. "Hacking into the Royal Navy." He speaks again after a moment. "We're in. Here it is, uh... H.M.S. Taurean, Trafalgar Class Submarine, 10 miles off the coast of Plymouth."

Jackie stands, agitated.

"Right, we need to select a missile."

Mickey shook his head even though the Doctor couldn't see. "We can't go nuclear, we don't have the defense codes."

"We don't need it, all we need is an ordinary missile. What's the first category?"

"Sub Haffoon, UGMA4A."

"That's the one. Select."

Jackie walks up behind Mickey. "I could stop you."

Mickey turns to look at Jackie. "Do it, then."

"You ready for this?" the Doctor's voice broke the silence.

Mickey and Jackie stare at each other for a few more seconds - but Jackie doesn't move.

"Yeah." He looks back at the screen. Jackie sits back down.

"Mickey the Idiot. The world is in your hands. Fire."

Breathing heavily, Mickey screws up his eyes and clicks the Fire button.

* * *

10 miles off the coast of Plymouth, a missile launches itself out of the sea.

* * *

"Oh, my God." Jackie gasps as the missile is shown on the screen.

* * *

Harriet taps the steel shutters. "How solid are these?"

"Not solid enough, built for short range attack, nothing big."

"And this is beyond big." Imogen added.

"Alright. Now I'm making the decision. I'm not gonna die, we're gonna ride this one out." Rose opens the cupboard door. "It's like what they say about earthquakes, you can survive 'em by standing under a doorframe. Now this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me! Come on!"

Imogen and Harriet hurry over to help her.

* * *

The missile soars over the sea.

* * *

"The vote is in. The counsel says..." The newsreader pauses. "Yes. They are releasing the codes."

* * *

The Slitheen family are now all gathered around the phone.

"Ring, damn you!" Joseph growls.

* * *

Mickey is still staring at the computer screen. "It's on radar. Counter defense 556."

"Stop them intercepting it." The Doctor ordered.

"I'm doing it now."

"Good boy."

Mickey taps a few keys. "556 neutralized."

* * *

The Doctor rips the mobile off speaker phone

* * *

Downstairs, the Sergeant rushes to a computer terminal, looking over the operator's shoulder. "What do you mean, 'incoming'?"

The operator points at the screen where the missile shows up on radar.

The Sergeant smashes the glass on the fire alarm, which goes off. "Everybody out! Now! Get out!"

Everyone runs to the door, to safety.

* * *

The Slitheen family hear the alarm.

"What the hell is that for?" Joseph asks.

The Sergeant bursts in. "Sir, there's a missile!" The Slitheen all look round at him. "...Sorry." He runs out again.

* * *

The missile soars past Mickey's flat.

Jackie runs out onto the balcony to watch it. It was heading for her daughters…

* * *

Two of the female Slitheen are fighting over Margaret's skin suit.

"That's mine!"

"No, mine!"

The others are all struggling to get back inside their skin suits.

* * *

A hoard of security guards run out of the door of 10 Downing Street.

The Sergeant fires a gun into the air. "Everybody run!" Everyone runs. He looks up into the sky to see the missile making straight for 10 Downing Street.

* * *

Rose, Imogen, the Doctor and Harriet bundle into the cupboard. The crouch in a corner, Rose and Imogen either side of the Doctor with Harriet next to Imogen.

"Nice knowing you three." Harriet says and they all hold hands. "Hannibal!"

They brace themselves.

* * *

The second before the missile hits, the Slitheen all look up.

"Oh, boll—"

The missile hits.

* * *

The whole of 10 Downing Street explodes in flames.

* * *

The Doctor, Imogen, Rose and Harriet are all severely shaken around in their cupboard.

Then it stops.

* * *

The place is in ruins, smoking.

Then, the Doctor, Imogen, Rose and Harriet emerge from the wreckage.

Harriet looks around. "Made in Britain."

The Sergeant hurries over to them. "Are you alright?"

Harriet flashes her ID card at him. "Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately, tell the ambassadors the crisis is over and they can step down. Go on, tell the news!"

"Yes, ma'am." He hurries away again.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord!" Harriet gasps. "We haven't even got a Prime Minister!"

"Well, maybe you should have a go." The Doctor grins.

"Me?" Harriet laughs. "I'm only a back-bencher."

Imogen laughs. "I'd vote for ya!"

Harriet gives her a look. "Now, don't be silly."

Rose smiles. "You already got 2 votes."

Rose, Imogen and the Doctor grin.

"Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." Harriet climbs over the rubble towards the crowd of people. The Doctor beam at sisters. "Hang on!" she shouts over to the crowd. "The Earth is safe! Sergeant!"

The trio walk together.

"I thought I knew the name." The Doctor watches her hurry over to the cameras and ambulances. "Harriet Jones - future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms - the architect of Britain's Golden Age."

"The crisis has passed! Ladies and Gentlemen - I have something to say to you all!"

The trio watch her fondly from a distance. Then they turn and walk away.

Harriet speaks to the camera. "Mankind stands tall - proud - and undefeated. God bless the human race." She beams around at them all.

* * *

Imogen and Rose enter the flat, and is greeted with a huge hug from a relieved Jackie.

They all close their eyes, happy to be together again.

* * *

The Doctor enters the TARDIS, looking very pleased with himself.

He starts the engines and grins up at it as it hums lightly.

* * *

Rose is sitting on the chair in front of the TV, watching a repeat of Harriet Jones' speech as Imogen watched from the table.

"Mankind stands tall - proud –"

Jackie comes in. Her tone is contemptuous. "Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her! Taking all the credit. Should be you two on there." she addresses TV. "My daughters saved the world!"

Imogen took a bite from an apple. "I'm pretty sure the Doctor helped a bit..."

Jackie sat down. "Oh, alright then. Him too. You should be given knighthoods."

"That's not the way he does things. No fuss, he just... moves on. He's not that bad if you gave him a chance." Rose told Jackie.

"He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that."

Imogen gasped dramatically. "Oh! Now the world has changed, you're saying nice things about him."

Jackie threw a pillow as Rose laughed. "Well, I reckon I've got no choice! There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated." Jackie mocked.

Imogen snorted. "I'm not infatuated..." she said unconvincingly.

Rose tensed her jaw at that tone. Seems like she wasn't the only one.

"What does he eat?" Jackie asked suddenly.

Rose tilted her head. "How do you mean?"

"I was gonna do shepherds pie." Rose and Imogen snigger. "All of us. A proper sit down. 'Cause... I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you two and him and that life you lead. Only, I dunno, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things."

"He'll have shepherd pie." Rose smiled. "You're gonna cook for him?"

Jackie shrugged. "What's wrong with that?"

Imogen caught her sister's eye. "He's finally met his match." She joked.

Jackie puffed her cheeks. "You're not too old for a slap, you know."

Rose giggles as Imogen grins.

Jackie gets up and goes to the kitchen. "You can go and visit your gran tomorrow." Imogen's mobile rings. "You'd better learn some French. I told her you two were in France. I said you were au-pairing."

The caller ID on the screen of Imogen's mobile reads 'TARDIS calling' complete with a little TARDIS icon. She answers. "Hello?"

* * *

"Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go."

"You've got a phone?" Imogen asked shocked. She had never seen him with one.

"You think I can travel through space and time and I haven't got a phone?" he laughs contemptuously. "Like I said, couple of hours... I've just got to send out this dispersal..." he presses a button. "There you go. That's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up."

* * *

"Our mother's cooking." Imogen informed him as she watched Jackie moved about in the kitchen.

* * *

"Good! Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer."

He learns Imogen laugh. "She's cooking tea. For all of us."

The Doctor frowned. "I don't do that."

"She wants to get to know you."

"Tough! I've got better things to do!"

"It's just tea." He could just hear her rolling her eyes.

"Not to me it isn't."

"She's my mother."

"Well, she's not mine!" he crosses his arm over his chest.

"That's not fair!"

"Well, you can stay there if you want!" he pauses. "But right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the horse head nebula." His words cause Imogen and Rose, who got up to listen when Imogen rolled her eyes, to listen to him intently. "Fires are burning 10 million miles wide. I could fly the TARDIS right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out - hurtle right across the sky and end up anywhere." He shrugged. "Your choice." He hangs up.

* * *

Imogen ends the call slowly and presses the phone to her lips, deep in thought as she looks at her sister.

* * *

The Doctor pauses for a second and then goes back to the console.

* * *

Jackie comes back into the living room with two cups of tea. "Sweethearts, I was thinking..." Rose's seat is empty, as is Imogen's spot at the table. Jackie walks in the direction of her daughters bedrooms instead. "I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Years Eve, does he drink?"

Jackie opens the door to Rose's bedroom. Rose is stuffing some clothes into a bag.

Jackie watches her. "I was wondering whether he drinks or not."

"Yeah, he does." She continues stuffing the clothes into the bag.

Imogen came out her room with her own bag.

Jackie's hearts break as she sees them with bags. "Don't go, sweethearts." She says quietly. Rose stops for a moment and looks around at her and Imogen plays with the strap of her bag. "Please don't go. "

Guiltily, Rose continues to pack.

* * *

It is night time as Mickey is sitting reading a newspaper on a bin outside the TARDIS.

The small boy who graffitied the TARDIS the previous day is now busy cleaning it off again.

The Doctor pokes his head around the door. "Good lad. Graffiti that again and I'll 'ave ya. Now, beat it."

The little boy scurries off.

The Doctor grins.

Mickey glances after him.

The Doctor walks over to Mickey.

"I just went down the shop. And I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is." Mickey shows the Doctor the front page of the newspaper, headlined 'Alien Hoax?' - The Doctor gives a small smile. "How could they do that? They saw it!"

"They're just not ready. You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face - nope! Can't see it! There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick."

Mickey laughs. "We're just idiots."

"Well, not all of you."

Mickey's surprised. "Yeah?"

"Present for you, Mickey." The Doctor hands Mickey a disc. "That's a virus. Put it online, it'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist."

"What do you want to do that for?"

"'Cos you're right. I am dangerous. I don't want anybody following me."

In the background, The Tyler women emerge from the flats.

"How can you say that - and then take them with you?" he gestures to Imogen and Rose.

"You could look after them. Her." He gestures to Rose. "Come with us."

Mickey shook his head. "I can't. This life of yours... it's just too much, I... I couldn't do it." He whispered hurriedly as the women approach. "Don't tell her I said that."

Jackie was pleading with her daughters. "I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends, I'll pass my test and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will."

Imogen frowned. "Mum, we're not leaving 'cos of you."

"We're travelling, that's all. And then we'll come back!" Rose added.

"But it's not safe."

"Mum... if you saw it out there... you'd never stay home." Imogen turns to the Doctor, taking her backpack off her shoulders.

"Got enough stuff?" he joked as he saw their backpack.

Rose snorted. "Last time we stepped in there, it was spur of the moment." She throws an enormous bag into the Doctor's arms. "Now we're signing up. You're stuck with us. Haha."

The sisters go up to Mickey - Jackie looks the Doctor up and down.

Imogen placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come with us. There's plenty of room. "

"And plenty of fun." Rose added with a smile.

Mickey gestures to the Doctor.

The Doctor shook his head. "No chance, he's ah, a liability, I'm not having him on board."

Rose huffed. "We'd be dead without him."

"My decision is final."

Rose turns back to Mickey. "Sorry." They kiss briefly.

Mickey gives Imogen a hug as she backs away. "Good luck, then." He tells the sisters.

Jackie rounded on the Doctor. "You still can't promise me. What if they gets lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they're left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away - how long do I wait then?"

The Doctor stands there hugging Rose's backpack, not really having an answer, but Imogen comes to his rescue.

"Mum..." Jackie spins around to face her and Rose. "You're forgetting - it's a time machine. We could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe and by the time we get back, yeah - ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds." She puts her hands on Jackie's shoulders and gives her a smile. "So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds time. Hmm?"

She hugs her, and then Rose.

The Doctor steps into the TARDIS and the sisters follows him.

Mickey gives a small wave and Rose shuts the door, leaving Mickey and Jackie alone outside.

The TARDIS dematerializes.

Jackie keeps her eyes on her watch as they stand in silence, then... "Ten seconds." She walks back to the flats.

Mickey settles himself back on top of the dustbin with the newspaper.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed it!**

**Seems like Rose knows that her sister might have a small thing for the Doctor like she does. Wonder how that'll mess with the story ;)**


	13. You would Make a Good Dalek

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

"_Gallifreyan"_

**Sound**

_Writing_

_Dream/ flashback_

* * *

**grapejuice101: **_Thank you :) It might get cuter as the chapters go by!_

**Gogo2625: **_Woo-hoo! Chapter 13!_

* * *

The TARDIS materializes and the Doctor, Imogen and Rose step out.

"So, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asks.

"Don't know, some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course..."

They look about themselves.

"Where are we?" Imogen asks as she looks about.

"Earth, Utah, North America. About half a mile underground."

Rose looked around some more. "And... when are we?"

"2012."

"God, that's so close, so I should be... 26."

Imogen whistled. "I should be 28." She turned to Rose with a scrunch of her nose. "So close to 30."

The Doctor flicks a switch and lights flood the museum.

"Blimey! It's a great big museum!" Rose's voice echoed.

"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby. They must've spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust... that's the milometer from the Roswell Spaceship." He passes the exhibits as he names them. They notice a Slitheen arm in one case.

Imogen points to it. "We'd know that arm anywhere. That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm, it's been stuffed."

The Doctor notices something else. "Ah! Look at you!" Inside the glass case he is approaching, is the head of a Cyberman. The Doctor stares through the glass at it.

Rose stands behind him. "What is it?"

"An old friend of mine... well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old."

"Is that where the signal's coming from?" Rose asks as Imogen came up behind the Doctor to see the head.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out." He stares intently through the glass. "Calling for help." He places the tip of his finger gently on the glass.

Immediately, an alarm goes off and they are promptly surrounded by soldiers all pointing their guns at them.

"Now look at what you've done." Imogen hit the Doctor's arm.

Rose looked to the Doctor, who was rubbing his arm. "If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A."

The Doctor flashes the soldiers a grin.

* * *

A helicopter lands. Inside a corridor, men with guns line the walls.

Henry van Statten alights from a lift with a few others - they begin to walk briskly down the corridor.

"On behalf of all of us, I want to wish you a very happy birthday, sir." There was no reply so Polkowski continued. "And the President called to convey his personal best wishes."

"The President is 10 points down. I want him replaced." Van Statten ordered Polkowski.

"I don't think that's very wise, sir..."

"Thank you so much for your opinion. You're fired." Van Statten spoke to the soldiers. "Get rid of him."

"Wha-?" The soldiers drag him off.

Van Statten keeps on walking. "Wipe his memory, put him on the road someplace - Memphis, Minneapolis - somewhere beginning with 'M'." Another woman named Goddard hastens to take Polkowski's place. "So, the next President, what do you think? Republican or Democrat?"

"Democrat, sir."

"For what reason?"

She pauses. "They're just so funny, sir?"

They all stop and Van Statten looks at her. "What is your name?"

"Goddard, sir. Diana Goddard."

"I like you, Diana Goddard." They resume walking. "So, where's the English kid?"

The 'English Kid' - Adam - hurries up to him. "Sir! Sir! I bought ten more artifacts at auction, Mr. Van Statten."

"Bring 'em on, let me see 'em."

Goddard cut in. "Sir, with respect, there's something more urgent. We arrested three intruders 54 floors down. We don't know how they got in."

"I'll tell you how they got in. In'tro the window. In'tro the window, that was funny!" everyone politely laughs at his joke. "Bring 'em in, let's see 'em - and tell Simmons I wanna visit my little pet. Get to it!" He goes through a door.

Goddard speaks into a mouthpiece. "Simmons? You'd better give me good news. Is it talking?"

* * *

Simons attacking it with some sort of chainsaw. It is screaming.

"Not exactly 'talking', no." Simmons answers.

"What's it doing?"

"Screaming. Is that any good?" He applies the chain saw again.

* * *

Van Statten sat at a table while Adam shows him the artifacts. "And this is the last... paid $800,000 for it. "

The Doctor, Imogen, Rose and Goddard enter.

"What does it do?" Van Statten takes it from Adam.

"Well you see, the tubes on the side must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel..."

The Doctor cut in. "I really wouldn't hold it like that."

"Shut it." Goddard snaps at him.

"Really, though, that's wrong."

Adam turns his attention to the Doctor. "Is it dangerous?"

"No. Just looks silly." He holds his hand out for the artifact. Security ready their guns. Van Statten holds up a hand to stop them and hands the object to the Doctor. "You just need to be..." He runs his fingers gently over the artifact and it plays a note, rather like a harmonica. "... delicate."

Everyone looks suitably impressed. The Doctor beams around at them all whilst playing it.

"It's a musical instrument." Van Statten says out loud.

The Doctor nods. "And it's a long way from home."

Van Statten stands. "Here, let me." He grabs it off the Doctor, who raises his eyebrows.

"I did say 'delicate'. Reacts to the smallest fingerprint." Van Statten cannot make it play at first and it makes a series of bleeping noises. "It needs precision." Van Statten touches it more gently and it plays a few notes. The Doctor smiles. "Very good. Quite the expert."

"As are you." Van Statten tosses the instrument aside, where it lands somewhere on the floor. The Doctor's and Adam's eyes follow it, slightly alarmed. "Who exactly are you? "

The Doctor looks back at Van Statten with a new, slightly disdainful look in his eye. "I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"

Van Statten snorted. "Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah." The Doctor shrugged.

"The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down. With your little cat burglar accomplices." He looks at Imogen and Rose. "Quite a collector yourself, they're rather pretty."

Rose narrows her eyes at him as Imogen glared. "They're gonna smack you if you keep calling them 'they'."

"He deserves more than a smack." Imogen's glare darkens as she spots him scanning both of their bodies.

Van Statten eyes on the Doctor. "They're English too!" He turns to Adam. "Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy - got you some girlfriends."

Adam introduced Van Statten to the trio. "This is Mr. Henry Van Statten."

"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose jokes.

"Mr. Van Statten owns the Internet."

Imogen snorted softly. "Don't be stupid, no one owns the Internet."

"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Van Statten sent a wink to Imogen.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Van Statten. "So you're an expert on just about everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten asked him, tearing his eyes away from the blondes.

"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am." The Doctor smirked.

"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The cage contains my one living specimen."

"And what's that?"

Van Statten smirked. "Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You wanna see it?"

Imogen turned to Rose. "Blimey, you can smell the testosterone. It's choking up the whole room." Rose bites her lip to hold a laugh.

Van Statten turned his attention to Goddard. "Goddard - inform the Cage. We're heading down." Goddard nods. He turns to Adam now. "You - English. Look after the girls. Canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do. And you - Doctor with no name..." he gets ready by the lift. "Come and see my pet."

* * *

Van Statten leads the Doctor to the cage. "We've tried everything. The creatures has... shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside." He has entered a code to enter the Cage. The door to the Cage opens behind him.

"Inside? Inside what?" the Doctor asked.

Simmons greets Van Statten. "Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down - the Metaltron is resting."

"Metaltron?"

"Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it?" Van Statten shrugs. "Although I'd much to prefer to find out its real name."

Simmons turns to the Doctor. "Here, you'd better put these on." he offers the Doctor a pair of gloves. "The last guy that touched it... burst into flames."

"I won't touch it then."

Goddard smirks.

"Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me." Van Statten tells the Doctor.

Goddard looks at the Doctor.

With a placid expression on his face, he steps into the Cage.

Van Statten steps away. "Don't open that door until we get a result." He and Goddard bend down to look at the monitor showing surveillance footage from the Cage.

It is pitch dark inside - they watch the Doctor enter.

The door shuts behind the Doctor.

He looks at some of the instruments Simmons was using to torture the alien.

Through the darkness, the Doctor sees a blue light giving away the alien's location in the Cage. "Look, I'm sorry about this. Mr. Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor."

An auto toned voice weakly called out. "Doc-tor."

The Doctor felt his hearts stop, he's in absolute shock. "Impossible."

"THE Doctor? " The Doctor watches, his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open. Lights suddenly come on, illuminating the Dalek. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

The Doctor bangs on the door of the cage, rattling it. "Let me out!"

"Exterminate!"

"Sir, it's gonna kill him!" Goddard turned to Van Statten.

"It's talking!" Van Statten smiles.

"You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" It waves its gun around helplessly.

The Doctor stops looking terrified and his face breaks into a huge grin. "It's not working!" The Dalek's eyepiece looks down at its gun. The Doctor laughs manically. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The Great Space Dustbin. How does it feel?" He lunges at the Dalek.

The Dalek strains against its chains. "Keep back!"

The Doctor is inches from the Dalek, looking straight into its eyepiece. "What for? What're you going to do to me?" there is silence between them. "If you can't kill... then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you?" He circles the Dalek. The Dalek follows his progress with its eyepiece. "You're nothing."

Van Statten, Goddard and Simmons watch the proceedings, intrigued.

"What the hell are you here for?" the Doctor continued.

Goddard glances at Van Statten.

"I am waiting for orders." The Dalek answers.

"What does that mean?"

"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."

"Well you're never gonna get any. Not ever."

"I demand orders!"

The Doctor's voice rose as he spoke. "They're never gonna come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire - the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."

"You lie!"

"I watched it happen. I **MADE** it happen!"

"You destroyed us? "

The Doctor's expression changes. He walks away, his back turned on the Dalek. "I had no choice." He tells the Dalek quietly.

"And what of the Time Lords?"

Van Statten, Goddard and Simmons watch the monitor avidly.

The Doctor pauses.

"Dead." The Doctor answered after the pause. "They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost." His thoughts turned to a young woman with strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes, wearing their traditional robes and laughing at his horrible jokes or smiling whenever he showed her a new invention as she glowed.

"And the coward survived."

The Doctor's tone turned to mocking. "Oh - and I caught your little signal... help me... poor little thing..." he resumes normal tone. "But there's no one else coming 'cos there's no one else left."

The Dalek lowers it's eyepiece. "I am alone in the Universe."

The Doctor smiled. "Yep."

"So are you." The Doctor's smile fades. "We are the same."

The Doctor spins around to face the Dalek angrily. "We're not the same, I'm not—" he stops. "No - wait. Maybe we are. You're right, yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cos I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve." He raises his eyebrows. "Exterminate." He pulls a lever on the control panel and the Dalek is immediately engulfed by electricity.

It starts screaming again. "Have pity!"

"Why should I? You never did." He turns up the voltage.

Van Statten turned to the soldiers. "Get him out." He ordered them.

"Help me!"

Security burst in and grab the Doctor before he can lunge for the control panel again.

Van Statten addresses the Dalek. "I saved your life, now talk to me! Goddamn it, talk to me!"

"You've got to destroy it!" The Doctor yelled as he was being dragged away.

"The last in the Universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek." There is silence. "I am Henry van Statten, now recognize me!" silence again. He turns to Simmons. "Make it talk again, Simmons." Simmons approaches the Dalek with a greedy look in his eye. "Whatever it takes."

* * *

Adam shows Imogen and Rose into his workshop, and they look around.

"Sorry about the mess. Mr. Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing." Adam shrugged. "So long as I deliver the goods..." Rose prods a few things on the surfaces as Imogen just looks, not touching. "What do you think - that is?" He hands Rose an object.

"Er... a lump of metal?" she guessed.

"Yeah. Yeah, but I think- well, I'm almost certain - it's from the hull of a spacecraft." Rose finishes examining the lump of metal and hands it to Imogen carefully. "The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet - spacecrafts - aliens - visitors to Earth - they really exist."

Imogen bit back a grin. "That's amazing."

"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe that the whole universe is teeming with life."

Rose smiled slightly at Adam's tone. "I'm gob-smacked, yeah. And you do what? Sit here and catalog it?"

"Best job in the world."

Imogen carefully puts the hunk of metal down. "Imagine if you could get out there. Travel amongst the stars and see it for real."

"Yeah... I'd give anything." Adam sighed. "But I don't think it's ever gonna happen - not in our lifetimes."

Rose looked to her sister then to Adam. "Oh, you never know... what about all those people who say they've been inside spaceships and things and talked to aliens?"

"I think they're nutters."

"Yeah, me too." They both laugh as Imogen laughs at her sister's growing little crush. "So, how'd you end up here?"

"Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit."

Imogen snapped her fingers. "Ah, right, you're a genius."

Adam blushed. "Sorry, but yeah... can't help it, I was born clever." Rose smiles. "When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defense System - nearly caused World War Three."

Rose tilted her head. "What, and that's funny is it?"

"Well you should've been there! Just to see them running about! Fantastic!" Adam laughed.

Imogen snorted. "You sound like the Doctor."

Adam looked at the eldest blonde. "Are you and him...?"

Imogen frowns in confusion before shaking her head in realization. "No."

Adam looks to Rose. She quickly answers. "No, we're just friends."

Adam nodded. "Good."

Rose smiled, a little shy. "Why's it good?"

"Just is."

There was a pause that was filled with Imogen rolling her eyes from the scene in front of her. "So... wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr. Van Statten's got a living creature down there."

"Yeah... yeah well I did ask but he keeps it to himself. Although - if you're a genius - it does take long to patch in on the comms system."

Rose laughs. "Let's have a look then."

Adam turns to the computer and taps some keys and the sisters observes over his shoulder. "It doesn't do much - the alien. It's weird, it's kind of... useless, it's just like this... great big pepper pot."

They access the screen that surveys the Cage. They watch Simmons approach the Dalek and begin to torture it with one of the devices. The Dalek screams again.

Imogen's voice becomes alarmed. "It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know."

Rose grabbed Adam's arm. "Take us down there. Now." She strides from the room with Imogen at her heels.

* * *

The Doctor, Van Statten, Goddard and the security guards step into the lift.

"The metal's just battle armor - the real Dalek creature's inside." The Doctor explained to Van Statten.

"What does it look like?"

"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered - every single emotion was removed except hate."

Van Statten was impressed. "Genetically engineered... by whom?"

"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world - you'd like him."

"It's been on Earth for over fifty years - sold at a private auction moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?" Goddard asked.

"Because I'm here." The Doctor turned to Van Statten. "How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"

Goddard answered. "Records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands - burnt in its crater for nearly three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must've gone insane."

"Must've fallen through time. The only survivor."

"You talked about a war?"

The Doctor nodded. "The Time War. The final battle between my people and the Dalek race."

"But you survived too." Van Statten held back a grin.

"Not by choice."

"This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth, Doctor, there's you." Van Statten looked at the Doctor with a grin. "The only one of your kind in existence."

* * *

Lights flash on, illuminating the Doctor.

They have chained him up against a rack and striped his torso.

Van Statten stands behind an instrument pointing at the Doctor. "Now, smile!" The instrument runs some sort of scan over the Doctor's torso. The Doctor moans slightly in pain, grimacing. The scan image shows the Doctor's ribcage with two hearts beating within it. "Two hearts! Binary vascular system! Oh, I am so going to patent this."

"So that's your secret." The Doctor groaned. "You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."

"This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk, you have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian Crater, and do you know what they found?" The Doctor looks at him angrily but questioningly. "The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course, no need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?" He smiles smugly.

"Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten?" The Doctor asked him, making the smile fall. "A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species - that creature in your dungeon is better than you."

"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." Van Statten walks back to the scanner.

The Doctor becomes frantic. "Listen to me, that thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!"

"Nothing can escape the Cage." He runs the scan again.

The Doctor writhes with pain. "But it's woken up! It knows I'm here! It's gonna get out! Van Statten, I swear no one on this base is safe! No one on this planet!"

The scan is run again.

The Doctor groans in pain and throws his head back.

* * *

Adam enters the lobby outside the Cage, followed by Rose and Imogen.

"Hold it right there!"

Adam flashes his ID. "Level three access. Special clearance from Mr. Van Statten."

They pass Simmons and enter the Cage.

Rose and Imogen stare at the Dalek.

"Don't get too close..." Adam warned them.

Rose goes to walk toward it but Imogen grabs her arm. Something was telling her to stay away, to get out.

Rose placed her hand on Imogen's. "I'll be fine." She walks slowly up to the Dalek and peers into its eyepiece. It watches her. "Hello?" The Dalek simply continues to watch her. Rose is innocently concerned. "Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler and back there is my sister, Imogen. We've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?"

"Yes."

"What?"

The Dalek raises its eyepiece to look into her face and it spoke slowly and wearily. "I am in pain. They tortured me. But still they fear me. Do you fear me?"

"No."

The Dalek lowers its eyepiece. "I am dying."

"No, we can help!"

"I welcome death. But I am glad... that before I die... I met a human who was not afraid."

Rose looks overwhelmed with sadness and pity. "Isn't there anything I can do?"

"My race is dead. I shall die alone."

Rose has tears in her eyes. She places a hand gently on the Dalek.

"Rose, no!" Adam yells too late.

The place where Rose has put her hand suddenly burns bright orange and she snatches her hand away from the heat.

The Dalek's tone changes. "Genetic material extrapolated - initiate cellular reconstruction!"

Imogen pulls Rose back to her as it bursts out of its chains with a new lease of life. Sparks fly from it.

Simmons enters the room. "What the hell have you done?" He approaches the Dalek. It points a sucker at him. "Whatcha gonna do? Sucker me to death?"

The Dalek proceeds to do just that.

It places the sucker over Simmons face and we hear his skull cracking as it sucks inwards.

"Run!" Imogen yells as she drags Rose and Adam outside the cell.

Imogen turns to the guard. "It's killing him! Do something!"

The guard speaks into the intercom. "Condition red! Repeat, condition red! This is not a drill!"

* * *

Van Statten, still with the Doctor looks up, as does the Doctor, who is sweating with the pain. "Release me if you want to live." He tells Van Statten wearily.

The Doctor, Van Statten, Goddard and Van Statten's security guards exit the lift and enter Van Statten's office.

The Doctor addresses a monitor where there is a communication link to the lobby. "You've got to keep it in that cell."

"Doctor, it's all my fault." Rose tells him.

"I've sealed the compartment." The guard informs Van Statten. "It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."

"The Dalek's a genius." The Doctor countered. "It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat."

* * *

Inside the cage, the Dalek places its sucker to the code lock and begins to run through all the combinations.

* * *

Imogen, Rose and Adam stand before the door with security, who are pointing their guns at the door. In no time at all, the door opens.

"Open fire!" the guard orders.

They shoot at the Dalek.

"Don't shoot it, I want it unharmed!" Van Statten orders.

"Imogen! Rose! Get out of there!" The Doctor panicked.

The Dalek advances upon them, the bullets having no affect at all.

Bywater turns to the female guard. "De Maggio - take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?"

De Maggio turns to the sisters and Adam. "You - with me." They follow her.

The Dalek approaches the screen displaying the Doctor, Van Statten and Goddard and smashes right through it. Then electricity starts to course through it.

It wails as the peeling metal bends back into shape, the rust fades away. It looks perfect again.

"Abandoning the cage, sir." Bywater spoke into the mouthpiece.

* * *

Goddard is tapping into a computer as Van Statten and the Doctor look over her shoulder. "We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's raiding entire power supplies for the whole of Utah."

"It's downloading."

Van Statten turns to the Doctor. "Downloading what?"

Goddard cut in. "Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down."

"It's not just energy. That Dalek just absorbed the entire Internet. It knows everything." The Doctor told him, worry filling his bones at the thought of his companions down there with the Dalek.

* * *

The Dalek finally backs away from the computer. "The Daleks survive in me!"

The Dalek fires its exterminator beam randomly around the room, as though to test it.

* * *

"Sir, the cameras in the vault have gone down." Goddard informed her boss.

"We've only got emergency power, it's eaten everything else, you've got to kill it now!"

Goddard nodded. "All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately."

* * *

Imogen, Rose and Adam run past another bunch of security guards, led by De Maggio.

"Civilians! Let them through!"

Imogen, Rose and Adam run out of sight. The guards point their guns ready in the direction they anticipate the Dalek will approach from.

Bywater runs into view. "Cover the north wall: Red division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter, Blue Division hold." He is exterminated by the Dalek behind him.

The guards immediately start firing at the Dalek, but the bullets melt before they can even touch the armor.

The Dalek is surrounded - but it simply exterminates them, one by one, the bullets having no effect.

* * *

"Tell them to stop shooting at it!" Van Statten tells Goddard.

"It's killing them!" she screams.

"They're dispensable, that Dalek is unique." Van Statten speaks into the intercom. "I don't want a scratch on its body work? Do you hear me? Do you hear me?"

The sound of the gunshots fade into silence.

Every single soldier lies dead.

The Dalek proceeds up the corridor.

Goddard shows the Doctor a map of the base on the computer screen. "That's us right below the surface. That's the cage - and that's the Dalek." She indicates a blue light moving along a corridor.

"This museum of yours - have you got any alien weapons?"

"Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them."

"We've got to keep that thing alive." Van Statten ordered. "We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there."

The Doctor spun to glare at Van Statten. "Leaving everyone trapped with it? Imogen and Rose are down there. I won't let that happen. Have you got that?" Van Statten stands up. The Doctor turns back to the computer screen and Goddard. "It's got to go through this area. What's that?"

"Weapons testing."

"Give guns to the lawyers, technicians, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it."

Goddard nods and gets up.

The Doctor takes her place in front of the computer.

* * *

Rose, still running, finds herself at the foot of a flight of stairs. "Stairs! That's more like it!" Imogen and Adam run up behind her.

"It hasn't got legs, it's stuck! Brilliant Rose!" Imogen cheered.

De Maggio joined them. "It's coming! Get up!"

They run up the stairs and look over the banisters to watch the Dalek. It stops at the foot of the stairs.

Adam breathes a small sigh of relief. It runs its eyepiece over the stairs. "Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs." Adam mocked it.

The Dalek's eyepiece rests on them.

De Maggio still has her gun pointing at it. "Now, listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, then I guarantee that Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong. But people have died, and that stops. Right now. The killing stops, have you got that?" The Dalek merely watches her, saying nothing. "I demand that you surrender, is that clear?"

There was a short pause before the Dalek spoke. "El-ev-ate." The Dalek levitates in the air and floats up the first few steps of the stairs.

Imogen gasps. "Oh my God."

The Dalek proceeds up the stairs. Adam looks gob smacked.

"Adam, get them out of here." De Maggio orders Adam.

The sisters tried to get her to come with them. "Come with us, you can't stop it!"

"Someone's got to try. Now get out!" De Maggio pushes them away. "Don't look back, just run!"

Adam, Imogen and Rose go up the rest of the stairs.

The Dalek advances.

De Maggio shoots at it without avail.

Moments later, Imogen, Rose and Adam hear the sound of the exterminator beam and De Maggio's scream.

They run down the corridor terrified.

* * *

Van Statten turned to the Doctor. "I thought you were the great expert, Doctor." The Doctor, still staring at the monitor, does not answer. "If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate - there must be something it needs, everything needs something."

"What's the nearest town?"

"Salt lake City."

"Population?"

"One million."

"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature, that's all it needs."

Van Statten became furious. "But why would it do that?!"

"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!"

* * *

The soldiers position themselves.

The Doctor's voice came through the intercom. "The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through." The soldiers wait apprehensively. "Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."

"Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Positions!" The Commander ordered. They ready their guns and wait. After a few moments, Imogen, Rose and Adam run into view, right in the middle of the open area. "Hold your fire!" Imogen, Rose and Adam stop at the sight of the guns aimed at them. "You three, get the hell out of there!"

Imogen, Rose and Adam make it outside the door the moment the Dalek slowly comes into view.

They stop for a moment to watch it. The Dalek also stops, and it focuses on them. It then zooms right in on Rose's face and turns in their direction.

Adam grabs Rose's hand and pulls her away, but she stops again. "It was looking at me."

"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us!"

Rose pulls her hand away. "I know! But it was looking right at me."

Adam became impatient. "So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing, it's looking all around!"

Rose shook her head. "I don't know... it's like there's something inside looking at me, like... like it knows me."

The Dalek makes its way towards the door.

"On my mark..." The Dalek looks up at the trio, ignoring the soldiers as the Commander ordered. "Open fire!"

They all start shooting at the Dalek. Like before, the bullets have no effect.

* * *

"We've got vision." Goddard informed the Doctor.

The Doctor stands up and looks at the monitor, showing the weapons testing area. "It wants us to see."

The Dalek is looking straight at the camera, completely unperturbed by the volley of gunshots.

The Dalek slowly levitates into the air until it is hovering near the ceiling.

It fires it's exterminator beam at the fire alarm, causing the fire sprinkles to rain water from the ceiling. The bullets keep coming, but the Dalek pays no heed.

It aims at a man who has his feet firmly rooted to the wet ground and fires its exterminator beam at him. The rest of the team fall like flies except from the Commander and one of his men who are sheltered from the sprinklers.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

The Dalek exterminates both of them and then observes the tens of lifeless forms lying on the wet ground with their useless bullet scattered on the floor.

There is a silence in Van Statten's office. The Doctor looks down, breathing heavily in shock.

Van Statten was stunned. "Perhaps it's time for a new strategy, maybe we should consider abandoning this place."

Goddard was quietly furious with him. "Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out."

"You said you could seal the vault." The Doctor turned to Van Statten.

Van Statten went toward the computer. "It was designed to be a bunker. In the event of nuclear war, steel bulkheads—"

Goddard turned to the Doctor. "There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive."

"We've got emergency power, we can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."

"We'd have to bypass the security codes, that would take a computer genius!"

"Good thing you've got me, then." Van Statten commented.

"You want to help?" The Doctor asked, surprised.

"I don't want to die, Doctor, simple as that. Nobody knows this software better than me."

The screen showing the footage of the basement suddenly flashes back into life. The Dalek is still standing in the middle of the open area.

At first, only Goddard notices. "Sir..."

The Doctor and Van Statten also look round at the screen.

"I shall speak only to the Doctor."

The Doctor slowly straightens up, not taking his eyes off the Dalek. "You're gonna get rusty."

"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me."

"What's your next trick?"

"I have been searching for the Daleks."

"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the Internet." The Doctor walks around the table to be nearer the screen. "What did you find?"

"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."

"And?"

"Nothing." The Dalek's voice rose, scared. "Where shall I get my orders now?"

"You're just a soldier without commands."

"Then I shall follow the primary order - the Dalek instinct to destroy! To conquer!"

The Doctor sighed, exasperated. "What for? What's the point?" there was a pause of silence. "Don't you see? It's all gone. Everything you were, everything you stood for."

"Then what should I do?"

"All right then. If you want orders... follow this one: kill yourself."

"The Daleks must survive!"

The Doctor rose his voice angrily. "The Daleks have failed. Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct? Rid the Universe of your filth, why don't you just die?" He shouts this last word, spit flying from his mouth in his passionate hatred.

The Dalek is silent for a few seconds, then... "You would make a good Dalek."

The screen goes blank.

The Doctor stares, dumbstruck. "Seal the vaults."

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :)**


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